The Parting Line
by DramaDramaDrama
Summary: When Aro sends Bella a package with treasures from the crown jewels in Breaking Dawn, what if there was more to Aro's note than the well-known parting line? What if Bella noticed that she had grown a liking towards the cold Volturi leader? What if she realized that in marrying Edward, she had made a grave mistake? A thought experiment. AU.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Prologue

"Bella!" Alice called out. "There's a package for you in the mail!"

_Strange_, the girl in question thought to herself._ I don't remember ordering anything lately_. "Coming!" she quickly replied, leaving the seat next to her daughter.

She had a theory about who the package was from — but she hoped herself to be wrong.

Insecurily she waved off her worries. _Maybe Charlie sent some toys for Renesmee again_, she calmed herself.

But as hard as she tried, she had difficulties in fooling herself.

"Hi Alice," the girl greeted her sister-in-law once she had successfully located her near the doorway. "How was your hunting trip?"

"Satisfactory," the little pixie dodged her question. "Who is this from?" she demanded, pointing at the medium-sized package in her hands.

Bella sighed. "I don't know," she answered, praying that she seemed honestly surprised. "I'm guessing it's Charlie or Renée."

"It's not," Alice said. "It's not their handwriting, I checked. Plus there's no return address," she added gravely. "Bella, you know that your parents wouldn't do that. What's going on?"

"Nothing," she stuttered. "Really."

Alice gave the shaking girl before her one glance and immediately knew she was hiding something.

"If you say so," she suspiciously agreed, flashing a forced smile. "Tell me what it was later, will you?"

Bella hastily nodded her agreement.

As she realized that Alice wasn't going to ask any more questions, Bella ran away as quickly as her legs could carry her, stopping only once she had reached the safety of Carlisle's study.

Apart from Alice and Rosalie, everyone was still out hunting. She was afraid of opening the package in her own room despite that fact though; afraid that Edward would recognize _his _scent if her conclusions were indeed correct.

Instinctively checking once more if there was somebody watching her, she tore open the package, noticing her jaw drop as she found yet another box inside. But this box wasn't an ordinary one — quite the opposite. It was covered in diamonds and gemstones of all shapes and sizes, and it sparkled brilliantly in the direct sunlight.

Bella smiled in realization. _Just like its previous owner._

Carefully, she opened the box, hoping not to break anything. Her eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets in pure shock of what she found inside.

There, in the exact middle of the box, lying on the finest of black velvet, lay a pure gold necklace decorated with a round white diamond the size of a golfball.

_Oh my God._

But as quickly as there was awe, there was panic. How was she supposed to explain this to her family? Who but _him_ even possessed such priceless treasures?

This was bad. Really bad.

This could not be all. He must have left her a letter, a fake one, to explain this sudden generosity. Not so that she would understand, but so that the Cullens would. And more importantly, that they would believe her.

A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she found not only one but two letters, hidden behind the thick layer of velvet.

_My dearest_, one read.

_Hide this letter after reading immediately. I have enclosed yet another letter for your family, for your convenience. Show it to them as quickly as possible, and try to act shocked._

_Please accept my gifts. The necklace and its package were lying around in my quarters, gathering dust, and haunted me in their beauty as I was forced to think of you. I imagine the necklace should suit you rather beautifully._

_Do visit me in Volterra as soon as you can. I have presented you with a reason in my other letter._

_A.V._

The brown-haired girl smiled in appreciation for a second, then forced herself to mentally return to reality. Looking around her surroundings once more, she hastily stuffed the real letter in her pocket, only to fold open the official one.

"Alice," she whispered, doing her best to sound horrified.

Within minutes, the entire Cullen family was assembled in Carlisle's study, forming a perfect circle around Bella and the gift. Their gazes were fixed upon the horrendously expensive necklace and its packaging, and they all stood in complete silence while Bella's family took turns reading the letter and consoling her.

It remained a mystery to her why they insisted upon believing her staged fear. Bella had always been a terrible actress, especially in situations of anxiety or panic.

Maybe they wanted to believe the lie, she realized.

Quickly, Bella's eyes scanned the faked letter. _He_ addressed her formally this time, as _Mrs. Cullen_, and talked about the importance of maintaining the law and the necessity of an upcoming visit. It took all her willpower not to grin at the blatant denial of any acquaintance.

"Oh, Bella, my sweetheart" Esme finally broke the silence. "Don't be afraid. We'll book you the plane tickets for your journey right this instance, and you can be there and back here by tomorrow evening."

"Bella, I'm so so sorry for sending them a wedding invitation!" Alice chimed in guiltily. "I thought it was for the best!"

"She's not going anywhere," Edward demanded. "It's much too dangerous."

"I'll go," Bella said. "But I'll need to go by myself. They'll know about Renesmee if you come with me. We need to keep her safe. It's the only way."

There was a deep frown on her flawless face, but on the inside, she was laughing madly at the irony. _He_ had been one of the first to even know of her pregnancy. In reality, there was not even the slightest reasons to try and hide her daughter's existence — except of meeting _him_ again for the first time in a year.

And as her eyes rested upon Aro's last sentence, the supposed threat, she could not help but smile.

_I so look forward to meeting the new Mrs. Cullen in person._

* * *

**Author's Note**: hello there, my dear readers! I hope you enjoyed this. In case you did, please leave me a review. Your opinion is valued a lot and would be very much appreciated.

And yes, _The Dreams We Dream_ and _Close Your Eyes _will be updated shortly. But this idea was occupying my mind, and I couldn't start anything else before this was finished.

Other than that: as you may or may not have noticed, this will be an Aro/Bella fanfic, only that in this, Bella is already a vampire and had Renesmee with Edward. Also it will be slightly alike SLovingLecter's 'Yours Eternally' in some ways. Be sure to check out that story. It's very entertaining.


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

_**Part I: The Present**_

Chapter 1

Bella still remembered the day she had first met _him_, human or not, effortlessly. Surprisingly, eventhough the memories of many important events in her previous life seemed incomplete and uncertain now, as if she just couldn't be sure that she hadn't simply imagined them entirely, the scene of seeing Aro and his brothers for the first time had remained untouched throughout her transformation.

She remembered the warm Italian air embracing her frail form as she desperately sped through the redly cloaked spectators of the St. Marcus day, screaming the name of her lover at the top of her lungs. The rosé colored light of noon, the tourists' yells of ecstasy, the angry stares and remarks of people she was forced to throw aside.

But most importantly of all, the unconditional, cold feeling of dread; the icy shivers that ran down her spine; the blinding, certain knowledge that all her efforts were for naught.

Her lover didn't see her.

It was no Romeo and Juliet kind-of ending to a perfect romance. But, as hard as Bella tried to deny it, there, in Volterra, during exactly that moment, her love for Edward died.

Romeo was dead-seat on killing himself, dead-set on leaving a world that did not have Juliet in it; so incredibly dead-set that, in fact, he neither saw nor heard Juliet as she tried to save him.

_He couldn't be in love with me_, Juliet realized. _This is not love. If he were in love, he would hear my cries no matter when or where. He would hear them, delight in their sound and rush towards my side. And he would take me away, far away, away from the danger. He doesn't love me. He can't love me. He's obsessed. He's in love with the idea of love._

_Romeo is so obsessed with being Romeo that he will kill himself for it._

All of a sudden, standing in the middle of a fountain, Bella stopped and stood. It had been right then that she had her epiphany, and only milliseconds later, taunting her, the clock tower announced the beginning of the new hour.

Edward stepped out into the sunlight.

And so, mere seconds after Bella's all-changing epiphany, she was forced to make a decision — stand still, a perfectly frozen statue of terror, and watch her first love kill himself, or run towards him, one last time, eventhough it was already too late, and die along with him.

Any other person would have stood still. Alice and the Cullens would have understood. As for the girl herself, denial would certainly go a great way. It was the logical decision. But did that make it the right one?

Bella did not obtain enough time to think. She acted on impulse, from what her heart told her. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and ran towards her certain death.

Not out of love. Out of gratefulness.

And because she was certain that she would not be able to live with the guilt of not having tried to save him.

"Bella," Romeo smiled as the doomed girl fell into his arms. "Carlisle was right. They really are quick. I didn't feel a thing."

For a second, girl in question contemplated revealing her thoughts to him. But then she remembered that there was a good chance that the both of them would not survive the next hour, and she smiled back.

"Edward," Juliet whispered. "Quick. We're not dead." After a moment of thought, she added: "_Yet_."

* * *

Bella's eyes had widened as she had entered the throne room alongside the vampire that had once been her love, staring over the blonde guard member's shoulder. The dome-like room, made entirely from marble, obliterated any doubts she had had concerning the Volturi's status. A Michelango-like painting decorated the dome, and for a second she found herself contemplating wether or not the Volturi would have undergone the trouble of making one of the most talented artists of history painting their home.

The scariest part was, Bella soon realized, that with these vampires, no thought, as grotesque as it seemed to be, was ever entirely impossible.

At the very end of the room stood three thrones, all of which were vacant. A seemingly bored brunette and a blonde with an evil spark in his crimson eyes occupied the left and right throne; both of which remained silent. It was the man in the middle, a stunning man of perhaps twenty-five years in human years, that stood to greet the congregration.

It was also this very man that took her breath away.

Shoulder-length mahogany hair framed his sophisticated yet elegant face. A polite smile lit up his face.

"Ah, welcome back, dear Edward," he greeted her once-boyfriend. "I see you have brought Alice... and Bella!" Instantly, his smile turned genuine. "What a happy surprise!"

"It was all a misunderstanding," Edward mumbled, extending his hand towards the man. Bella was confused, but decided to let it go. There were so many things she failed to understand right then, one more would surely make no great difference.

"_Magnifico_," the man mouthed as he let go of Edward's hand. He then went and explained the full story to his brothers — the story of Bella's paper cut, Edward's selfishness, and the bronze haired vampire's impulsive decisions leading to great misery.

Bella soon turned impatient. If they were going to kill her, why wouldn't they get it over with? She was very obviously a violation of the law, after all. They said that you relived your entire life before your eyes right before you passed away. Not in her wildest dreams would have Bella ever imagined this majestic man to be the one to tell the story.

Something else was said, several things, but she payed them no attention. All she focused on was her impending doom.

"Of course," the mahogany-haired man's voice suddenly pulled her from her thoughts several minutes later, and she surprisingly found his bright crimson eyes staring at her. "Where are my manners?"

He flashed one of his brilliant smiles as he slowly walked towards her, not once breaking eye contact. Bella was aware that she should be terrified, but she could not help but feel mesmerized by the action.

"My name is Aro, my dear," the man introduced himself as he stood only centimeters away from her. Bella could almost feel the coldness of his skin on hers. "Would you do me the honor?" Within the blink of an eye, his hand questioningly hovered over hers.

Bella knew that this was not really a choice. Yet, even if she had had the option to decline his request, she was not entirely sure if she would have.

"Of course," she croaked out.

The smile on Aro's face grew even bigger, now reminding Bella of a cat from a popular children's book that took place in a land of wonders.

Then, within milliseconds, everything changed.

"_Alec_," Aro ordered, too quickly and too quietly for Bella or the Cullens to react in time.

A loud noise was audible as Alice and Edward's body fell to the alike figures in a game of chess. Bella's jaw dropped in fright, but she did not dare say anything. Only a second later, all Volturi with the exception of Alec followed them.

"I don't have much time," Aro hastily told Bella, cupping her face in his hands, breathing in her exquisit scent of strawberry and freesia. "We have two minutes before they notice they've lost their senses. If we wake them before then, they won't know that this ever happened. If you value your freedom, you will never tell. Do you understand me?"

Bella quickly nodded, frightened. What was the meaning this?

As she tried to voice her questions, not a single sound was willing to leave her lips.

"Don't ask questions. We don't have time for that," Aro said. "Now, answer me honestly: what did you feel when you first saw me?"

Bella blushed bright red, but did not dare lie. She was and always had been a terrible liar, and Aro would find out one way or another anyway. "It... it took my breath away," she told him guiltily, feeling almost like a criminal. "I felt mesmerized."

Aro smiled once more. "I thought so," he noted. "We only have a minute left, but my dearest Bella, we must continue this conversation another time. Do I remember correctly that your address is _Pine Avenue 37, Forks, Washington_?"

"Yes," Bella nodded.

"I will write to you," he explained. "Hide these letters. No one but you may see them. Burn them after reading, possibly. Do you understand?"

She nodded.

He sighed, relievedly. "Good. Everything will be explained later on, cara, so I must ask you to be patient for me."

"I can do that," she replied before she had any chance to stop herself.

Aro laughed this time; a flawless, angelic almost, carefree laugh. "Of course you will."

And as he stared into her caramel eyes one last time, he could have sworn he saw directly into her pained soul.

"Alec," he ordered. And within a second, the vampires regained their consciousness, and everything returned to exactly the way it had been two life-changing minutes ago.

_Yes_, Bella thought to herself as she stared at the diamond-coated box before her. _I can do that._

* * *

**Author's Note**: Thank you for an incredible 13 follows, 5 favorites and 4 reviews within 24 hours! I was actually planning to wait a little longer with the next update, but I was so overwhelmed by the popularity the prologue has been getting that I decided I should write it a little earlier. So take this as your reward, you guys! Thanks so much! :)

And yes, I'm aware I'm asking you to be extremely lenient with me on the Alec situation. But please, bear with me. For the sake of the story.

I'd be eternally grateful for your opinions! Please leave a review, good or bad! Thank you in advance. *hands out cookies*


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 2

It had been two weeks after Bella's return from Italy, just as she had accepted that she had made the strange incident fourteen days ago up, that the first of many letters finally arrived.

Bella had had a terrible nightmare the night prior to its arrival, a hideous figment of her imagination that vehemently tried to convince her that Edward would leave her once more, and since she had been certain that there would be nothing to watch out for, she stayed in bed until several hours after noon. It was Charlie that eventually found the letter, neatly layed onto the exact center of the ancient door mat, and delivered it to his daughter.

Bella, taken by surprise, had been too dumbstruck by the sight of the envelope to make up an excuse that was anything but terrible.

_It's Edward_, she'd said. _I haven't been talking to him for a few days, so I guess he figured I'd have to listen to him that way._

Bella's acting abilities had not improved within the few weeks that had passed, but somehow, Charlie did not question her logic.

Bella listened to her father walk down the stairs and turn on the TV, then waited ten extra minutes for safety, and only then, completely taken by curiosity, ripped open the expensive looking envelope. In near artistic handwriting, _he_ had written her address on the front. There was no return address.

For a second, Bella was infuriated. How on Earth was she supposed to respond to a letter without a return address?

But then she realized that Aro must have guessed that either Edward or her father would see the letter's exterior, and her rage subsided.

_My dearest_, he wrote.

_I must apologize for waiting this long to write to you; you must believe me that what I did was for reasons of security only, though. Your boyfriend (in case that is indeed the correct classification) has spent the last few days meticulously guarding everything and all that you ultimately even so much as saw, and I figured it to end very badly for the both of us if the contents of our letters were to fall into his hands._

_Now, for the explanation you have awaited for such a long time now, which I will try to explain as easily as possible — my dear, cara, something happened between the two of us in the throne room. I felt it the second I first layed eyes on your inexplicably beautiful, graceful form, and according to what you told me then, so did you._

_Mesmerized, was the word you chose to describe it. And I hope I don't frighten you, my dear, but allow me to say that that is indeed the perfect description for my feelings back then._

_In all of my countless years, I have never felt anything alike it before. I was mesmerized by the flawless little creature that was Isabella Swan, you, and this mesmerization utterly fascinated me. And with every step that I took towards you and your heart did not speed up in fear, my fascination grew._

_Allow me to summarize, to make a long story short: I was and am awestruck by you, my dear. Ever since I breathed in your scent, I could not take my mind off you. And eventhough I am honestly oblivious to the reason, I hope that you feel similarly and choose to commence a correspondence with me._

_Do not be frightened to ask whatever comes to your thoughts, my dear. I will try to answer as good as I can._

_A.V._

_Piazzo dei Priori 8, __31452 Volterra, __Italy._

Mesmerized. That was what Bella had been by the dark, powerful Volturi leader; and it was what she felt then.

She knew that responding at all would be foolish. After her epiphany in Italy she had come back together with Edward, at first out of pity, then out of frustration as day for day, no mail came. If, as _he_ had mentioned, Edward was controlling her every move, he would surely be informed of the contact within the blink of an eye.

But at the same time, she could not help herself. Liquid euphoria running through her veins, she quickly located a piece of paper and a pen and sat down at her small desk to write. She was aware that however what she was doing classified, she was betraying Edward. She would hide a secret from him, and an important one at that. But she did not love him.

Not anymore.

And there were so many questions on her mind, so many thoughts, dreams. Thoughts that could not help but be written down for _him_ to read.

_Yes_, she thought. _I will do this. I must do this. I will not have Edward change my life for the worse once more._

_Dear Sir_, she wrote, uncertain on how to address him. Aro? Friend? King of All Vampires? 'Sir' seemed like the polite, easy way out, and she took it.

_You can't imagine the relief and utter happiness I was feeling when I finally received your letter. I must confess that I had already convinced myself I had only made our little encounter up — luckily, I now know for sure that I haven't lost my sanity during the last few months. Thank you._

_Knowing that you actually feel the same way is a great relief to me. With our little secret on my mind, I have been feeling very guilty talking to Edward lately. I've been trying my best not to make him notice that I have lost my interest for him, but all the while my thoughts, strangely, have been with you, and not him._

_What an odd human I must be to you. Just another foolish girl hypnotized by you, senselessly writing you secret letters on true feelings after hardly thirty minutes of having met in real life._

_And yes, I do have some questions. A lot, to be honest. I will only insist on having one answered for now, though, for otherwise I would never finish this letter: why me? From what I guess to be thousands of girls and women, why is it me that you are mesmerized by? I cannot understand, no matter how hard I try._

_Best wishes,_

_Bella._

She quickly looked around herself, checking for an unwanted pair of eyes that were watching her. But there were none. Hastily, she folded up her letter, put it into the empty envelope and sealed it shut. Not for one second losing her sudden paranoia, she copied the address from his letter, then hid his letter under her matress, grabbed her own and exited the room, running down the stairs.

"Bells," Charlie greeted her. "I haven't seen you 'round here all day. You come to grab some... well, it wouldn't exactly be breakfast, but I guess I could fix you some lunch..."

Bella shook her head. "Thanks Dad, but I'm not hungry. I'm just up to bring my reply to Edward's letter to the mail."

"Fine, I guess," he answered. "But you're still grounded."

"Sure," she smiled to herself as she left the house. A warm autumn breeze surrounded her as she had to force herself not to smile. _For security reasons._

* * *

His reply had come exactly two days later. Bella picked the letter up before going to high school in the morning and carried it around in her backpack the entire day, multiple times noticing her concentration drift away during classes. There was only one man on her mind, and as guilty as it made her feel, it was definetely not Edward.

She'd spent the day before at the Cullen house, telling Charlie she was at Angela's for a biology project. Awkward silence had surrounded Edward and his family, but nobody, not even Rosalie, had dared to admit that whatever social event the Olympic Coven made up to invite Bella over was of no use at all. Except of the polite 'hello's and 'goodbye's, not a single word had been spoken.

But Edward had held on to her skinny hand as if it were a life boat, and Bella had not wanted to cruelly break his heart the way he had broken hers by denying him his silent request.

Everything seemed to be complicated for her these days.

Once she had arrived home from school that day, she almost forgot to greet her own father due to the excitement overdose. Immediately she locked herself up in her room, leaving all her homework incomplete and undone, and ripped open the envelope, revealing his written words.

_Dearest Bella_, he began.

_forgive me, but I fail to understand. Why did you decide to give Edward a second chance? You see, after your departure, Marcus came to me to show you your bonds to the boy. From what he saw, you held no love, but rather pity and slight hatred for him. Please understand that I cannot comprehend how within two weeks, such negative emotions could have possibly turned into enough love to be willing to forgive the boy for what he did to you._

_Under any other circumstances, I would have corrected you for calling me 'Sir'. But now that I see what connection you and the Cullen boy share once more, I will not object. I will keep silent._

_If you wish for distance, then so be it._

_Allow me to say just one more thing, though: eventhough I still do not know why, I would and will leave everything behind for you. I would have been, and will be there for you in your times of need. And Aro Volturi is a man who keeps his promises._

_Awaiting your reply,_

_A.V._

Bella had sat there, breathless, wondering about why he had not answered her questions, replied to any other parts of her letter but a part that had been told only to prove another one. She had been bewildered, and she had failed to understand his reasoning.

And now, as Alice's arms embraced her artificially shaking form and her eyes were still fixated upon the box and its contents, she knew why.

_Because he loved you._

* * *

**Author's Note**: You're all awesome, do you know that? I woke up this morning to twenty (!) new mails, and there were about another ten during the day. Thank you so much! :) So here, as a reward, another quick chapter. I hope you like it.

So basically, in this part of the story, I'll go back and explain what moments Aro and Bella shared in the past before going back to the present day story line. Just in case you were wondering.

Were Bella and Aro understandable in this chapter? How did you like the letters? Please leave a review, every single one increases the chance of another 24-hour update! Bye guys! :)


	4. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 3

"Bella?" Carlisle demanded. "Are you quite alright?"

Forced back out of her memories and into reality, Bella nodded. "I guess."

"Good," he replied. "Now, listen to me, my daughter. Aro is not a man to be kept waiting. Especially now that he has presented you with such priceless items for seemingly no reason, you would do wise to depart within the hour. Do you understand?"

"Yes," she said. "I understand." Bella took an unnessecary, deep breath. "I'll just go and get my passport and some cash."

In silence, she made her way to exit the study, and synchronically, the Cullens cleared a way for her. She could quite literally see the respect in their eyes, and she almost felt guilty to lie to them in such a big, majorly significant way.

Almost.

Bella was just about to walk into the hallway when a strong, demanding arm held her back.

"No," Edward croaked out, and his voice sounded pained. "You cannot go into the lion's den like that, unprotected. You'll be completely at their mercy there."

"Edward," Jasper interrupted. "If she does not go, they will come for us. They will find Renesmee. Do you prefer that?"

"They could kill her," he whispered. "What if they already know about Renesmee? What if the box's sole purpose was to lure her in, so that they could send us their declaration of war along with my mate's ashes?"

Bella had to use her entire willpower not to burst out laughing.

"Edward," Esme chimed in, "There is no other way."

The vampire in question vehemently shook his head. "I cannot and will not accept that," he stated. "There is always a choice. There must be. Carlisle, why don't you call Aro? Why don't you inquire about what he wants before we blindly send Bella to him?"

"Even if I did," Carlisle answered, "What do you expect him to answer? Even if the brothers did mean harm towards her, son — which, by the way, would be utterly foolish — do you expect him to tell me? He would say something of 'making sure that no law was broken', and he would hang up."

"Please," I whispered, just loud enough to be heard, trying to sound desperate. "Stop fighting. You keep debating the matter as if there was truly another way than me leaving. It's senseless, and we are wasting precious time. Edward, this is my choice. I will go. You cannot control me."

And as she made her way into the hallway once more, nobody stopped her.

* * *

It had been Monday, the 18th of September 2006, when Bella Swan had found herself unable to drift off into a carefree trance of sleep.

There had been a storm going on outside of her bedroom window, and the loud sound of raindrops hitting glass taunted her. It had already been early in the morning, several hours after midnight, and she was restless. There were now two letters hidden underneath her mattress, and the mere thought of them made her feel wide awake.

_Why did he not answer my questions?_ she asked herself. _And why did he focus so much on Edward?_

For a few more minutes, she fought a hopeless battle with herself. Eventually though, just as her old alarm clock had struck 4:00, she dragged herself out of bed and sat down infront of her table. There were still several sheets of paper there from the last time she had been spontaneously overwhelmed by the desire to turn her worries into written words; now all she had to do was grab a pen and get the letter, her reply, over with. Out of her worries, out of her system.

_Dear friend_, she wrote.

_I must apologize for upsetting you with my last letter — believe me when I say, it was not my intention. To be quite honest, when I first read your letter, I had no idea what you were suddenly so upset about. And to be even more honest, as of now, twelve hours later, I still have not figured it out. But either way, I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me._

_Yes, it is true. I felt that way about Edward when we were in Volterra, and to some extent, I feel it now. Honestly, I am not with him out of love. Aro, if I may address you so directly, I am with him because I have suffered under the agony of possessing a broken heart, and I did not want him to feel it so soon himself._

_Call it pity, if you want. Call it foolishness. But it is not love. And it will only be a matter of time until I confess my true feelings to him._

_No, I most definetely do not wish to distance myself from you. As I believe to have stated very obviously in the very same letter you chose to obsess over due to only one line, I feel as fascinated by this strange connection as you do. And, now that I am slowly yet inevitably losing control over my life, I would be grateful for a friend._

_Yours,_

_Bella._

Twenty-seven minutes had passed when Bella finally finished her letter and put it into an envelope, quickly scribbling his address on it. She did not think. As quietly as humanely possible, she walked down the stairs, putting on her ballerinas and a cardigan. She only realized she had walked right out into the storm unprotectedly as she stood in the middle of the street.

Drops of water viciously fell from the heavens, racing towards her. Within seconds, she was soaked. But she did not think of protecting herself from the rain, or running back into the house entirely; instead, she hastily hid the letter under her nightgown, praying that it was not too wet to be readable.

After that was taken care of, with one hand under her own nightgown, she kept walking on into the morning.

"I must be mad," she laughed, growing more hysterical by the second. She did not even hear herself over the sharp cries of the wind and rain, but that did not stop her. "What happened to me?"

Bella reached the post office after several more minutes, chilled to the bones. By some miracle, the letter had remained almost untouched by the water. She smiled to herself as she seeked refuge under the roof, shivering as a wave of cold hit her. But that did not obliterate her smile.

She quickly checked her surroundings for curious eyes, then threw the letter into the postbox.

"Why am I doing this?" she asked herself. "Is there even a rational reason?"

Taking a deep breath, she once again stepped out into the rain, crying out as another wave of liquid hit her.

_Call it foolishness_, she thought. _But it is not love._

* * *

The consequence of Bella's Tuesday morning activities arrived on her front door mat during the early hours of Thursday.

She woke up early that day, having left her curtains open by mistake. The sun kissed her angelic face good morning at few minutes after five, and, remembering the letter she was so desperately awaiting, she hastily ran down the stairs towards the front door still in her nightgown, another one this time, and threw open the door.

Sure enough, there was a letter lying on her door mat — in the exact center.

She did not care if she woke her father as she ran back up the stars, much louder this time. All that mattered to her in that moment was _his_ letter.

_My dearest_, he wrote.

_Do not apologize; it is me that was at fault. Overwhelmed by my emotions, I allowed myself to be carried away. Please forgive me. You cannot imagine my happiness when you informed me what your real reasons behind your relationship with the Cullen boy were. Although I must say, pity alone has never been enough to hold anything together._

_Hmm, now to the tricky part. I do not know what it was that made me do it, to be honest. All I know is that all of a sudden, I felt a terrible urge to rip this Edward's head off._

_I do hope I did not scare you with that; however, I am trying to be as honest as I can._

_It is good that you do not want distance between us. Everything would have soon turned even more complicated in that case. I am troubled to hear that you think your life is falling out of your control. Believe me when I say though, it gets better._

_I would say something of dancing in the rain, but it seems you already have all the experience needed in that subject._

_A.V._

Bella froze. _How... how could he possibly have known about her little trip days ago?_

The truth hit her like a train at full speed, and when it did, she felt suddenly dizzy, falling down onto her bed as she felt her legs give out.

There was no way that she could send a letter from Washington to Italy and receive a reply within two days.

And there was no way that _he_ could have known of Edward guarding her every move.

Unless...

_He_ was here.

* * *

"Goodbye, my little daisy," Bella told her daughter goodbye, hugging her tightly.

Ten minutes had passed since she had left her father-in-law's study, and she was carrying her cellphone, the passport, two thousand dollars in cash, and, unknown to her family, a second mobile phone in her purse. Around her neck, advised by Carlisle, hung the golden necklace Aro had presented her with.

"Don't go," her daughter pleaded. "I'm scared, Mommy."

Bella smiled in reply. "Don't be," she said. "I have to do this..."

"Why?" Renesmee asked. Her words were nothing but a whisper.

"Because when life gives you second chances, you'd be a fool not to take them."

* * *

**Author's Note**: Yay! Another 24-hour update! Thank you all for your incredible support! *hands out cupcakes*

Minor cliffy, I know. Once more, it is entirely up to you when you find out what happens next. So please, _please_, leave a review. Thank y'all in advance.

Bye. :)


	5. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 4

_Aro_\- Bella had written, not afraid to call him by his name anymore.

_Do not worry yourself about sending me that letter. It is quite alright. You have asked for my forgiveness, and so I will grant you it. As for your desire to rip Edward's head off; it is anything but special. I myself feel that desire multiple times a day._

_Now that that is settled, there is something I would like to address._

_I probably should have noticed it earlier, but anyways, I will try to say this as straightforward as possible: how come you know of Edward's feeble attempts to protect me twenty-four hours a day? Now, before you try to talk yourself out of it, I have a follow-up question: since when is sending a letter to the other side of the planet and receiving an answer within two days possible? And, if I may ask, who informed you of my nighttime activities several days back?_

_I could just leave it at this. I could sign the letter now, send it, and receive my answer frighteningly fast once more. I would read your desperate attempt to explain what has happened, and I would likely try to make myself believe it. But you know what? I won't do that. Quite honestly, I do not need your explanation — I have already come to a plausible answer myself._

_You are watching me._

_And I'd honestly like to now what business you have in doing so._

_Bella Swan._

Bella had sighed, looking the letter over for what seemed to be the thousandth time. Still, she was uncertain. Was the letter too rude? Would her sarcastic tone be enough to get her killed? Would she face consequences for insulting a Volturi king, ruler of the vampire world? Or was her rage exactly what was needed to receive an honest reply?

Because either way, she wouldn't accept the lies again.

If only she could have talked to someone about her predicament, Alice maybe... but what she was doing was inexcusable, she was breaking all moral codes, and she sure as hell could tell no one.

Charlie? No. He was human, end of story. Telling him would get her into greater trouble than the letter, no matter how bad it would be received.

The Cullens? Not an option. Eventhough she was really not in any sort of romantic relationship with Aro, she had a feeling her second family would see it as betrayal anyways.

Jacob? Aro was a vampire, and an even more dangerous one than Edward at that. Jacob's reaction would be murderous, and he would surely go out of his way to assure that Bella lost her contact with him as quickly as possible.

She sighed once more, in realization this time. She was truly alone in this.

For the one thousandth and first time, she re-read her letter. Unease filled her, making her want to cry. And for the very first time, she realized what she had gotten herself into.

She was just a pathetic little human, worthless in a vampire's eyes; a passing fancy. _He_ could crush her within a millisecond and she would not even notice. _He_ was powerful, too wise to be predictable, strong, a predator. There was absolutely no way that she could be sure of _his_ intentions. What if the letters were only a distraction, a way for _him_ to pass time until she would dettach herself from the Cullens, her family, completely and fall into _his_ arms? And what if these arms would not be opened for her to fall into, but to brutally crush her, alike an unwanted insect?

_He_ couldn't have killed her right there in the throne room. Edward and Alice would have seen, and that would have meant anything ranging from diplomatic difficulties to war with the Olympic coven. But that changed if she left the Cullens. She would disappear, and the Cullens would never know what had happened to her.

The perfect crime.

_Oh God_, she thought. _He's going to kill me, and I have nowhere to run for help._

She had to leave. She would leave Forks, fake some kind of accident so that could Charlie could have closure, and run as far as she could. Maybe she'd have herself be turned by some rogue on the way. Then she would be free. _He_ would lose his interest, and she could go back to the Cullens and make up some story to explain her absence. And everything would be back to normal.

Or, way more likely, that rogue would kill her. Or something else would. And she would succumb to oblivion, close her eyes forever, and be none the wiser. And she would never know what become of Charlie, the Cullens, Edw-

Hang on a second.

There was a hole, equally as big as the ozone one, in her logic.

_He_ was Aro Volturi. _He_ always got what he wanted, and _he_ would take no interest in playing with _his_ food, in case her blood was what _he_ desired.

But then again, _he_ was Aro Volturi. _He_ may have been a human drinker, but talents were worth more than blood to _him_. _He_ would therefore never kill her, but turn her instead. And if that was truly _his_ intention, to acquire her for _his_ guard, _he_ could have easily taken her as a compensation for the Cullens' crimes in Volterra. And there would have been nothing the Olympic Coven could have done about it.

So drinking her blood or wanting her for the guard could not be the reasons behind _his_ letters.

Bella exhaled reliefedly at that conclusion, surprised at the amount of air she had been holding.

She had no idea what Aro Volturi wanted with her, but whatever it was, it seemed not to be a danger to her life.

It was then that she realized another thing: not only the Cullens had been unconscious when Aro had talked to Bella in Volterra, but the guard as well as _his_ brothers, too. If _he_ really was to punish her for her harsh tone in the letter, _he_ would need to explain his contact with Bella to Marcus and Caius. But that was impossible — _he_ had kept something from them, and Bella had a feeling they would not be too pleased with their brother if they ever found out.

And so she had folded her letter together, put it into an envelope, sealed it and written Aro's address on the front. She had smiled the entire time.

_Whatever it is you want with me_, she'd thought to herself as the envelope fell out of her reach and irreversibly into the mailbox, _two can play at that game_.

* * *

"Bella," Edward had said at school. "I know there's something between us right now. Somehow... somehow, something's missing, and no matter how hard I try, I can't fix it." He'd sighed. "I love you, Bella, do you know that? Never forget it. Please help me figure this out."

On any other day, Bella would have walked on, giving him the cold shoulder. But somehow, that day, when she stared into his deep topaz eyes, she felt not only pity, but something else... something different, something... positive.

She remembered Aro, and _his_ reaction when _he_'d learned that she was spending time with Edward._ I felt the terrible urge to rip this Edward's head off._

And when she stared back at the boy infront of her, she nodded. "We can work this out."

* * *

When Bella came home from school that day, there was an envelope lying on her door mat. She did not rush into her room to open it as usual. She had spent the remainder of the school day with Edward, and for the first time in months, she actually felt hope.

She finally opened the letter after making herself a sandwich, eating it, talking to Charlie, doing her homework, taking a shower, changing into her pajamas and reading a few chapters of Wuthering Heights. If he was watching, she wanted him to know that she was not desperate.

She closed her eyes as finally, there was nothing else left to do but open the envelope. It was already late at night; she could see the full moon outside of her window, surrounded by an ocean of darkness. Bella looked around herself, out of the window, a small part of her actually hoping to find the Volturi leader sitting in a tree somewhere.

But there was no one; or at least no one she could see with her weak human eyes.

_My dear_, the letter began.

_I must say, I knew that the day you put the pieces together was fast approaching, but never had I fathomed you would have your realization this quickly. So, first of all, know that you possess my respect._

_Second, yes, you are indeed correct. I was, and am, watching you. Please do not be frightened, for I will now confess it all._

_There is an army of newborns in Seattle, my dear, nothing serious but nevertheless it requires taking care of. A redhead named Victoria rules it, and once again, do not be panicked, but I have reason to believe that she is going to make it attack the Cullens. She wants you, Bella, for what reason whatsoever._

Oh My God.

_Now, somebody had to travel there to investigate before we could send the Guard there on a mission to erase them. I volunteered, but I did days before you set foot in Volterra, my dear. So no, I was not willingly following you. It would have simply been impossible to explain why I suddenly could not travel there, if you understand my point._

_Know that the newborns will be properly disposed off. Nobody will hurt you, I promise._

_Once in Seattle, however, I could not withstand the temptation of visiting you. Your nearness haunted me. I did not wish to scare you however, so I refrained from talking to you directly. Not that I could have, anyways. Edward never left your proximity. He was in your room when you slept, in a tree while you were awake in your house, directly behind you wherever you were going. It made me understandably angry, since it prohibited me from having contact with you._

_Once I did write you letters, I watched you write your replies. I was forced too to watch you mail them, for otherwise it would not have been possible for me to steal them. That is why you never had to wait long, and why I saw you in the rain that night. It was quite touching, I must admit. It warmed my undead heart._

_In case you were wondering, I am not watching you now._

_Please, Bella, do not feel frightened. I would understand if you did, you certainly seemed furious in your last letter, but I did not do it because I have any preditorial interests in you. You are safe. No, my actions were rather courtesy of the strange bond we share, if of anything. I still do not know exactly what it is._

_I will not address your behaviour around the Cullen boy, for you already know my opinion on the topic._

_I have been here for three long weeks now, and Caius is starting to grow suspicious on me. Thus, I will be returning home to Italy in the morning. If you wish to continue your contact with me, please come to meet me at the post office at midnight tonight. I promise, I am not planning anything behind your back, and you will be safe with me. In case you do not come... no. Please do come. I do not know what would happen to me. I would understand, but I would be an emotional wreck._

_A.V._

By the time Bella had finished the letter, she was overwhelmed by her emotions. Tears were streaming down her innocent face, and she was clutching the letter to herself, breathing in its scent as if it were her life line.

What was she to do?

Instinctively, she had grabbed her cellphone. Instantly the small display had lit up, reveiling a picture of her and her father as well as the time.

11:42 PM.

And Bella had known that very moment that whatever option she chose, the next few minutes would decide her fate.

* * *

It was September 21st 2014, and the magnificent Bella Cullen, a pale vision of about 5"5' in height, long brown hair framing her angelic face and the bright topaz irises within it, was just entering Sea Tac Airport.

The second she set foot in the building, all eyes were on her slender form.

She paid the spectators no mind; she had grown used to them. Beauty was a normal side effect of vampirism, and with time, shy Bella had adjusted to the attention.

Quickly, she made her way to the bathroom. Her contacts were dissolving, and she had a feeling airport security wouldn't be thrilled to have a red-eyed customer.

Luckily, there was no-one else in the bathroom, and she was done exchanging the contacts with her spare ones within the blink of an eye. Sighing, she eyed herself in the mirror after she was done. She looked happy, fulfilled even, but there was a certain misery and longing in her eyes one would have had to be blind to oversee.

But then again, what was she to do about it?

_Ding! _

Her phone interrupted her thoughts, and she hastily grabbed into her bag to retrieve it. To her shock however, it was not her official cellphone that had made noise, but her secret one.

Surprisedly, she retrieved the iPhone 4 Aro had left on her doorstep the day he had returned to Volterra from the depths of her handbag and turned it on.

_A: Can you talk right now? If that is the case, please call me._

Bella sighed, then dialed Aro's number without a second of hesitation.

"What is it?" she asked the second Aro picked up. "I'm at the airport right now."

She heard laughter from the other line. "Oh, I knew you would convince your so-called family to leave as soon as possible," he said. "Tell me, when will you be in Volterra?"

"Thirteen hours, give or take one, if everything goes well."

"Splendid," Aro answered, and she could almost see him smile. "Do tell me though, why is it that I need to officially threaten you of breaking the law when I only so much as wish to talk to you?"

"I have no idea what you mean," she replied smirkingly.

"Oh, sarcasm doesn't suit you my dear," Aro stated. "What I mean is that this is the first time you have ever responded to any of my messages or calls, Bella."

The woman in question shrugged. "Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"At first it was pride. Pride, and fear, and paranoia. Then it was only fear and paranoia, and when I married Edward... pure paranoia. And now, well, let's say living in a house with seven other vampires and a child that constantly needs occupying... it isn't exactly the best idea to phone up my secret admirer."

Aro froze.

"How do you...?"

"A year is a long time to think about the past, Aro. Especially when you realize that you have made a grave mistake."

* * *

Bella had woken up the next morning with a small package on her doormat. Inside had been a cellphone — one of the really expensive ones. _I regret your decision_, a note inside had read. _But it is not too late to reconsider. Call me._

The weeks after had passed in a boring monotone. Against her own expectations, she had not broken up with Edward after all; instead, she had successfully convinced herself that he was her one true love after all, her fated one, her mate. After Aro had disappeared, their relationship bloomed and flourished to new heights while Aro's gift had gathered dust under her mattress, accompanied by _his_ letters.

Aro had been right. Victoria had created an army, but before the situation could even escalate into a battle, the Volturi guard had returned to Forks to take care of it. To everyone's surprise but Bella's, she had not been harmed by the cloaked warriors once they saw she was indeed still human. She had been thankful beyond words, but still she couldn't bring herself to call Aro. She was still mad at _him_ for watching her, and also, she was scared of what Edward would do if he discovered the truth.

And so she remained silently grateful.

When Edward had asked to marry her, she had known it wasn't true love. She had known that she was fooling herself. For a reason she couldn't define, she had thought of Aro, but then had laughed at her own foolishness. She had hoped to receive a happy ending with Edward, and so, insecurely and aware that she was choosing wrongly, but thinking there was no alternative, she had agreed.

She had not written Aro a letter; Alice had sent the Volturi a wedding invitation, and Bella had not found the courage to defend herself. So she had stayed shamefully silent.

_He_ had not come. There had been a part of Bella that had wished _he_ would show up, but then again, she could understand _his_ discomfort. _He_ had openly threatened Edward in _his_ letters after all, openly talked of _his_ hatred and disgust towards him and her for giving him another chance.

Once, Bella had told Aro she would leave him. And she had meant it. But then, she had vowed to spend the rest of eternity with Edward, and she couldn't help but understand that on her wedding day, it was too late to change her mind in favor of the king after all.

All of a sudden, _his_ text messages and attempts to call her stopped.

When she'd fallen pregnant with Renesmee, she had finally decided that she could not run from her problems any longer. She had written Aro a long letter, explaining everything, begging for _him_ to understand.

Three weeks later, an anonymous package had come in her mail. Inside were a silver necklace with a ruby pendant in the form of a heart and a teddy bear as well as a note.

_Congratulations_, Aro had written on it.

_Know that I purchased the necklace with you in mind a few months back. Life has a funny way of working out differently than you expect it to, I guess. I figure it will suit your daughter beautifully. And I would hate to not express my congratulations enough, so I had Heidi retrieve a toy for your infant._

_Also know that I think of you often._

After Renesmee had been born, things had pretty much returned to normal for her. Once, Irina had seen Renesmee from afar and mistaken her for an immortal child, but upon her arrival in Volterra, Aro had already been informed and therefore decided in Bella's favor.

Bella's life had been gruesome by then. Flawless from the outside. Empty though, miserable even, from the inside. Somewhere between raising her daughter and hunting mountain lions, she had realized that she had made a terrible mistake. This was not the life for her. She did not love Edward. Suddenly, she found the courage to be honest to herself: there was only thing keeping her in Forks, and that was her daughter, who she loved.

Edward though, the Cullens, and their entire philosophy of hunting animals she realized she hated.

In secret, she had started hunting humans. She told the others she preferred hunting alone, and while the animal drinkers thought she was killing deer, she watched the life leave the eyes of creatures that few months ago could have been her, and wore contacts afterwards.

She had also started re-reading Aro's letters, and when she had, she had an earth-shattering epiphany:

Aro loved her.

She loved Aro.

And she had made not one, but two grave mistakes: not meeting Aro that night, and taking back Edward.

And so when one fateful day a package with a hidden note arrived at the Cullen residence, Bella knew that this was her last chance to set things right.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thank you guys so much for your amazing feedback! You're all wonderful readers, and I'm inexplicably grateful. I hope you liked this extra-long chapter. ^_^

I hope nobody has any problems understanding the story anymore after this chapter. I've had two reviewers tell me they did not understand the story in some ways, so please, if there is anything that is confusing you, don't hesitate to message me. I'll respond ASAP.

Also, to those of you that are wondering wether or not Aro and Bella are mates, well, it would terribly spoil the suspense if I told you, so I guess you'll have to wait and keep reading to find out. :)

Also, general question: would you prefer daily 1.5k word updates or 3.5k updates like this one every two/three days?

Don't forget to review! This chapter took ages to write, so I guess I deserve some feedback. xD


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

_**Part II: The Epiphany**_

Chapter 6

Exactly twelve hours and thirty-seven minutes after Bella's call with the Volturi leader, the plane landed in Pisa, and a smile escaped Bella's lips as she finally felt herself relax. She was out of reach for the Cullens now; for the few minutes that remained until she was to see the Volturi, she was finally allowed to enjoy her own company.

She had not felt this free since months before the wedding.

Bella had no baggage with her, only the gray leather handbag that obtained the most necessary items, and therefore left hours before the other tourists that were forced to wait for their bags. Once again she felt all eyes on her, but she tuned it out as much as possible. Hastily she made her way to the nearest bathroom and changed her contacts. Her old pair had started to dissolve hours ago, and she would hate to expose herself to humans by accident in such close proximity to Volterra of all places.

There was nobody waiting for her. Bella had half expected Aro to send a driver to pick her up, but no one had come. She shrugged it off, left the airport at human place, disappeared into the nearest forest and started her sprint at vampire speed from there. Nobody would see her, and since Aro could not read her thoughts, she would never be punished.

Bella sighed as memories of her last visit in Volterra filled her; heartbreak, guilt and confusion present within her all over again. What really panicked her was, though, the great uncertainty of what would happen once inside the castle.

Would she be have to defend herself infront of the kings to keep up appearances before meeting Aro privately? Or was Aro the only one informed of her visit, and she was to be his private guest? Either way, how should she act? Polite, shy, brave, sarcastic, natural?

If she could have had a headache, she would have had one right then.

In less than two minutes after running off, Bella reached Volterra and stopped running. She reached the city gates and, at walking speed, mixed into the crowd. Luckily, it was a cloudy day, and Bella was able to walk around undetectedly without being forced to wear a cape or anything of the sort.

When she eventually reached the _Piazzo dei Priori_, for a second, she could have sworn her legs would give in under the tremendous weight of her emotions and memories.

_No,_ she told herself. _You are strong now. Tune it out. You have come here to get away from Edward; do not allow him to haunt you._

"Mrs Cullen?" a melodic, smooth voice she faintly recognized suddenly asked, pulling her from her thoughts. Infront of her stood the even for vampire standards incredibly beautiful vampiress that was responsible for gathering prey for the Volturi; Heidi, Bella believed her name was.

"The brothers have been expecting you," she explained. "Follow me."

Bella did as she was told without a word of doubt, silently following the garstly beautiful creature. They walked through an old hallway, and in seemingly no time, they had reached an elevator. As the doors automatically closed themselves behind Bella, she could almost feel Edward's cold presence behind her from where he had stood the last time she had been in the elevator.

_Stop it!_

Suddenly smiling, Heidi dropped her cloak.

"We're safe from the humans now," she assured Bella. "Feel free to move as quickly as possible from now on."

"I will," she responded politely. "Thank you."

They walked the rest of the way in silence. The new secretary, a young, slender thing of maybe seventeen years, did not bother greeting them.

Bella wondered why they bothered keeping such impolite personnel at all.

"We're here," Heidi stated. "These doors lead to the throne room."

Bella looked up, staring at the heavy wooden doors with golden ornaments in awe. "Thank you for taking me here," she said.

"Don't worry about it," Heidi replied. "I hope to see you later on."

And with that, Bella was alone.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, tried in vain to decrease her worry to a normal level and threw open the doors, surprised at how easy they were to open now that she was a vampire.

The throne room was just as she had remembered it, if not even more magnificent. Just alike during her last visit, everything was made from marble. A Michelangelo-inspired dome decorated the ceiling, and Bella was instantly amazed by its beauty. At the far end of the room were three thrones, occupied by the three kings, neither of which had changed at all — Caius, Marcus, and, in the unforgettable middle, Aro.

"Mrs Cullen!" Aro stood up to greet her, and instantly Bella knew that he had not told and would be trying to keep up appearances. Effortlessly, she played along.

"Your majesties," she smiled in response, curtsying. "I thank you for the invitation. If I may ask though: why have you summoned me here?"

_This is ridiculous_, she thought to herself. _I travel around the world to leave all the fakeness and mascerades behind for once, and here I am._

"We were merely meaning to make sure that the Olympic Coven had indeed changed you," Caius stated. "Now, obviously they have kept their end of the bargain. However, there are some formalities to deal with in this case, and therefore we will need to ask you several questions."

Bella nodded quickly. "Of course."

"This is not a trial," Marcus elaborated. "We are merely gathering information. Either way, we strongly advise you to feed us no lies."

"I would never," Bella answered. "_Your grace_."

"Now that everything is settled then," Aro interrupted, "Do let us begin." Bella could see the unease in his eyes at the awkward situation, mixed with the desire to talk openly to her.

"When were you changed?"

Bella sighed. "On September 13th, 2012. I had wanted to be changed ever since I had met Edward, and my _mate_," she could see Aro cringe at the sound of the word, "felt it reasonable to grant me my wish as a birthday present of sorts."

Except of the date, everything about her statement was a blatant lie. She knew it, and Aro knew it. She knew that she was putting him in discomfort with it, but she also knew that to Caius and Marcus it seemed reasonable — and that was all that momentarily mattered.

"Have you developed any special abilities after your transformation?" Aro continued his artificial questioning.

"Yes. I possess a mental shield."

"What diet have you chosen?"

"Animal," she said. _Lie_. "I believe anything else to be immoral and wrong, true to my adoptive father Carlisle's philosophy." _Lie_.

She could see Aro fight the smirk that desperately longed to fill his lips.

"Have there been any other changings in your Coven since then?"

"No." _Truth_.

"Were there any breachings of the law that you would like to report to us?"

"No." _Lie_.

"Sounds reasonable," Caius commented. "Thank you for your visit, Mrs Bella Cullen of the Olympic Coven. We hope to-"

What? That was everything? No! She barely got to talk to Aro!

"Brother," Aro said. "Due to her mental shield I have not had the chance to read her thoughts. This could be dangerous, as she could be hiding something. Allow me to keep the girl as my guest for a week. You know I have my ways of finding out the truth one way or another."

_Indeed he did._

Caius sighed, but gave in. "Fine. Maybe this is the smarter choice in the long run, anyways."

"I agree," Marcus added.

"Good," Aro concluded. "Now, if you will excuse me brothers, I believe I have a lady to show to her chambers."

They left in silence, only starting to talk several hundred meters away from the throne room. "That went rather well," Aro whispered.

Bella sighed. "I can't take this for much longer."

"What do you mean?" Aro inquired.

"This fakeness. The keeping secrets. Its what I've been running from, and I fear it is not letting me go."

* * *

**Author's Note**: You guys preferred short, daily updates, so here you go. I am aware it's neither overly exciting nor long, but please do leave behind a review as feedback anyway.

We have now reached Part II out of four for this story! Whereas Part I was basically a long prologue with flashbacks, Part II will explain Bella's stay in Volterra and its consequences. Just wanted to mention that, and I hope you'll enjoy it.

Once again — review please. Thank you in advance. *hands out baked goods of choice to readers*


	7. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 6

Bella and Aro stood in the Volturi king's personal library, staring out of the window into the wide, seemingly endless Italian landscape that stretched out beyond the boundaries of the ancient castle. Bella smiled. There was a comfortable silence between the two of them, as if there were no words needed to express their feelings to each other.

"Do you like it?" Aro suddenly asked, taking Bella by surprise.

"Like what?" she inquired.

"The landscape," he said. "You seemed exceptionally content staring at it. Looking at you while you're that... at ease with yourself, it greatly pleases me." After a moment he added: "Seeing you this natural, not hiding your true self for the sake of other's if only for an instant, that is a rare beauty."

Bella did not know how to react for a moment.

"It isn't finite," she finally replied. "From this point of view, it seems as if the meadows and forests were to go on forever. I greatly enjoy thinking about what might lie at the end of the landscape, since logically, somewhere, it must exist. But I do not know where. This landscape has an unknown ending, and after too long in a life where everything is perfectly predictable, that knowledge satisfies me."

For a moment, there was silence. Then Aro replied: "I am lucky to finally have you with me. I have greatly missed you."

Bella sighed in worry. "Can... can we speak here in private?"

Aro smiled. "I had the walls made soundproof years ago. Even for vampire ears, it seems as if we were standing here in utter silence."

Bella nodded. "Why did you stop sending letters?"

The man infront of her merely laughed in reply. "I'd thought you'd at least try to make the question sound polite."

"Well, I'm tired of trying to make anything anything else which it truly is not," Bella countered. "So?"

Aro closed his eyes. "You did not want me to," he whispered. "I gave you the choice, Bella, and you chose against me. I left you with other means to contact me, and you never did." He sighed. "I thought you did not want anything to do with me anymore. I told myself you hadn't forgiven me for coming to Forks without telling you and loathed me. And I did not want to intrude your... your _oh-so perfect_ life with Edward."

"Perfect," Bella sneered. "It was anything but that."

Aro shook his head. "I could have taken it all away back then. You could have come, and I would have loved you for your bravery. And if you'd really wanted it, I'd have given you a new life here. It could have all been so easy... and yet, you chose him. I will never understand."

He walked away from the window, into the library. There was a twenties style leather couch in the middle of the bookcases, and he sat down there, looking the woman before him right into the eyes. There was something desperate in his eyes, something frightened.

"Bella, you must tell me. Why did you make it this complicated?"

"Do you know this feeling... knowing that something does not add up, knowing right away that it will not work out, that it is a bad idea, but thinking that there is no other way?"

She sighed.

"After you left, I felt a little distraught. Confused. Whatever Edward did, I kept missing something. Nothing was ever enough. But at the same time, when he... asked me to marry him, I thought — _What other option do you have_?"

Aro snorted. "I attempted calling you multiple times a day for over a year before you accepted him, Bella. There was another option, and it was very, _very_ obvious."

"I was scared of you," Bella admitted. "I was confused about what relationship we actually shared. And I was afraid that really, your letters were but a move in a game of a chess, while the goal was my destruction. You were the unforseeable, dangerous, powerful vampire king, Aro, and I was the meek little human."

"You think too much," he commented, smirking. "Rather ironic really, complications brought upon by your habit of seeing things in a way more complicated than absolutely necessary."

"Then again, what isn't ironic nowadays," Bella said. "Everything seems absurd in one way or another."

"Although I must say that me being forced to endure you very obviously lying without even so much as batting an eye in an official questioning was the most absurd of all absurdities," he noted. "It is times like these I am glad that it is me that obtains the mind reading talent, and not one of my brothers."

For a moment, they enjoyed the ensuing silence. Bella slowly walked away from the window, making her way towards Aro and the couch.

"May I ask something?" Bella broke the silence. "This has been haunting me for years now, and I feel that it is finally time to receive my answer."

"Anything," Aro assured her. "I will be honest with you."

Bella took a deep breath before answering. Her reply came out in nothing but a whisper. "Is it love?"

Aro closed his eyes in thought for a second, then sighed in realization as they re-opened. He stood up from his seat on the couch and walked towards Bella.

"May I show you something?" Aro asked, mimicking Bella's questions moments earlier. "I've been desperate to do so for as long as I can remember. I didn't earlier because I was uncertain about something. But now... now, I am certain."

"Yes," Bella breathed. "Anything."

And without a millisecond of hesitation, Bella felt Aro's lips on hers.

The kiss was exhilarating; nothing like Bella had ever experienced before. From the very first second, she felt complete. Alike a puzzle that had finally been offered its final piece. She moaned in delight, not able to hold the sound back. This was too good. Too... _right_.

In a matter of seconds, the action turned from innocent to wild. Shortly after it had started, Bella felt Aro's tongue at the parting of her lips, waiting for her to allow him entrance. She happily granted it. Once connected, their tongues fought a passionate battle for dominance. Almost naturally, her hand found its way into his hair, and vice versa.

Within a total of five seconds, they fell onto the couch, entangled into each other, and Aro started caressing Bella's neck with kisses.

"_Aro_," Bella whispered. "This is right. This is good. But... it's a little _fast_."

He hastily nodded, within the blink of an eye having returned to his original position on the couch.

"You made your point beautifully, in case you were wondering," Bella said.

"This exceeded my imagination in every way possible," Aro smiled dreamily. "And I might as well just point out the obvious now. Bella Cullen, this is terribly complicated and I have no doubts that the next weeks will not exactly be carefree, but-"

"Don't say it," Bella interrupted him. "I know what it is you want to say, but don't. Not now. It's too fast. Spend a few days with me. Then say it."

"If that is your wish," Aro nodded. "Then I will try to contain myself."

"I appreciate the effort."

They stared into each other's eyes, and when they did, crimson met crimson, and so much more. Two incomplete souls met, and for an instant, connected.

"Aro?" Bella whispered.

"Yes, my dear?"

She sighed, then asked the unspeakable.

"What about Edward?"

He sighed. "Honestly?"

"Honestly."

"I have no idea."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I don't usually write fluffly scenes like this, but I hope it was readable anyways. I think it's obvious who Bella will choose now... :)

Special thanks to YourEnchantingDesire and ncbexie25 for your support concerning the last chapters! You are awesome, so shoutout to you two!

Just so you know, I won't be able to post new chapters for tomorrow and the day after, but I'll be back on Friday. So please, don't worry. I won't die and/or impulsively abandon this story.

Please leave a _review_!


	8. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 7

Bella and Aro had just been lying on the old leather couch in Aro's library, completely entwined in each other, silently staring into each other's eyes, when the rang of the phone disturbed their peace.

"Please don't answer it," Aro pleaded. "Stay here with me."

Bella sighed. "I have to and you know it," she replied. "To keep up appearances."

With that, the brown-haired woman rose and walked towards the source of the noise, a simple cellular device in the midst of her handbag. She quickly grabbed it, ignoring her lover's pleas.

_Incoming Call_, the display read. _Alice Cullen._

"The psychic," she whispered, suddenly afraid. "A vision. Of course..."

_Answer it_, her sense of logic ordered. _Things won't get better by ignoring them._

Scaredly, she pressed the accept button.

"Bella!" the pixie's shrill voice instantly sounded from the other line. "Oh, thank God! I was half expecting you to not pick up. Are you alright?"

Bella gulped. "I guess."

"Are you still in Volterra?"

She nodded. "Yes. The brothers decided to keep me here for another week. To observe me, since Aro could not get to my mind," she lied. "They want to make sure I have not breached a law."

Alice sighed. "Bella, listen to me. I don't want to frighten you, but I just had a vision. And you should-, no, you _need_ to get out of that castle and out of the vicinity of the Volturi _right now_. Do you understand me?" She sounded worried, and her tone of voice left no room for questions.

Bella asked anyways.

"What do you mean, leave?" she replied. "Alice, the rulers of the vampire world have ordered me to stay here. I will not just risk my life."

"I'm sorry, but you need to just trust me."

"What?!" Bella hissed. "Will you at least tell me why you are acting this way?"

Bella had always been a terrible actress, but right then, even Aro was uncertain wether or not she was truly angry at her sister.

"I had a vision," Alice eventually repeated after a long pause. "And the Volturi were coming for us. Everyone, even Marcus, except of the wives. But that wasn't the most panicking part, Bella. They..." she took a deep breath before continuing, "...they had _you_, too."

Bella held her breath in anticipation.

"Edward was right," she finally continued after several agonizing seconds of uncertainty. "They likely already know about Renesmee, and they've lured you in to keep you hostage. You must run, Bella. _Now_."

Bella knew she would have to actually return home early now. It was the only possible reaction. How else was she to keep up the appearance, after all? If she so much as hesitated for as much a second, the Cullens would grow suspicious and put together the pieces of Bella's real relationship with the Volturi leader. She knew it as surely as she knew the sun would rise in the morning.

But as much as she knew she had to, she couldn't. Her feet felt frozen to the ground. She did not want to leave Volterra. Ever. She wanted to stay here, with Aro, if only for a few more days. And there had to be a way to maintain that option, no?

"Oh my God," Bella feigned her shock. "That... I-I... thank you, Alice... I'm running as fast as I can. Now."

And as these words left her lips, she shot desperate looks towards Aro. _Help me_, she thought. _Catch me on my flight or something._

She began running then, but within the blink of an eye, she felt herself thrown towards the ground. Aro stood ontop of her, shooting her a comforting smile as he artifically growled and grabbed the phone from Bella's hand.

"I will only say this once, seer," Aro hissed into the phone, "The girl is ours now. She is ours to do with as we please, and so will you and your mate be in case you decide to talk about this escapade with your family. Hide your thoughts, no matter how. Unless you are masochistic, suicidal, and plain stupid, that would be your way to go about it."

"How-"

"Don't you dare question me back, animal hunter. Keep silent. We will not harm Bella unless you give us reason to. If you do, all three of you will meet your doom. _Arrividerci_."

He hung up.

"Thank you," I whispered gratefully as I stood up. "I don't know what I would have done had I been forced to actually leave."

"Do not worry about it," he sighed. "You do know what this means, though?"

I nodded. "In Alice's version of the future, the Cullens found out about our relationship and we were forced to go into battle against them."

"Yes," he agreed. "The pixie now thinks we are planning war against her family, though. And that thought possess fatal consequences."

My jaw dropped as it hit me. "We will have to fight them."

Mother against child. Wife against husband. Sister against brother.

This was madness.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Right, so first off, sorry that this was both short and a day late. I was really busy yesterday with school stuff though, and the chapter just didn't really feel like it was going to be an exceedingly long one. So please don't kill me.

Now that that is taken care off, just in case somebody is confused, no Aro did not throw her down to keep her from running, but because Alice would be able to hear the sound of it and that made the entire thing more authentic. Okay? Okay.

This was the first of many chapters that focus on the Cullen situation. War, intruiges and tragedy ahead. Get ready!

In reply to those of you that wanted to know if this would be a HEA, I don't know yet.

Review for a quick update! Thanks in advance. :)


	9. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 8

Aro sighed concernedly as he closed his eyes in thought for a second, an eery silence instantly filling the small room. His eyebrows furrowed in deep worry, and as she heard his quickened breathing, a three millennia old instinct, Bella immediately knew what magnitude of trouble lay before them.

"Aro," Bella croaked out, suddenly sounding weak. "This is insane. Give me my phone. I'll call back Alice, I'll explain, and there'll be no war. Please be reasonable."

Aro seemed to think about her proposition for a second, but then hastily dismissed the thought. "No," he responded. "Do you honestly expect everything to go peacefully if you inform your family? You are married Bella, for God's sake. You have a child. Edward will be livid."

"Yes," she agreed. "But I'd take Edward's hatred over the potential death of my daughter and family any time."

Once more the king sighed. Quickly he removed a cellular device from his trouser pocket and dialed up the one number on speed dial.

"Yes?" a squeaky, human voice answered.

"Bring me two glasses of blood, Gianna. I expect to receive them in my study within the minute."

"Of course, Master."

Within a millisecond, the line went dead.

"What was that?" Bella demanded, feeling her eyes widen in realization. "Aro, whatever is it you're hiding that you are trying to make me forget over a glass of blood, I demand to know it."

"Fine," he said, cupping Bella's face with his hands. "I'm a king, and as such, it would be pure poison for my reputation, and the Volturi's in that matter, to take what was already another's. If, publically at least, it seemed as if this was about your daughter, it would be easier for all of us."

"In what ways?"

"Theoretically, we could have fallen in love while I held you captive," Aro explained. "If Edward had, say, died in battle, we could wait some time and only then make it public. Also it would give us a valid reason to allow Renesmee to stay in Volterra."

Bella's face lit up with joy. "Do you mean...?"

"Of course," Aro assured her. "How heartless would I be to separate a mother and her child?"

"Thank you," Bella whispered, more than simply thankful. "You don't know what you just did for me."

Within the blink of an eye, Bella's hands found their way into Aro's hair, and she crushed her full lips to his. Taken by surprise Aro let out an uncontrollable moan of pleasure, but quickly pulled back.

"We will have plenty of time for that, dear" he commented, "Once this war is over and dealt with."

Bella nodded in understanding. "We'll have to tell the Volturi though, won't we?"

"Not necessarily," Aro pondered. "Theoretically we could run it all behind their backs, given the fact that _I_ am the one with the garstly mind reading ability. But it would be terribly complicated, and when I say terribly, I mean insufferably. Also, if they ever do find out by chance, there is a good chance I will be removed from my throne for treachery."

"Extremely awkward coming-out it is then," Bella sighed.

"You'll survive," Aro consoled her. "And believe me, the Volturi have fought wars for far less than this in the past."

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation, and Aro hastily made his way towards the door to acknowledge the visitor.

"Hello Gianna, dear," he greeted the young woman, flashing her one of his most brilliant smiles. Bella could practically see her heart melt at the sight.

"Hello, Master," she replied.

"You may go now, dear."

Two seconds after, the door fell into its hinges behind the secretary and Aro walked back into the center of his study, towards his loved one, two glasses of blood in his hands.

"To life," he said as he handed a glass to Bella.

"To life."

* * *

"Aro," Caius noted as the mahogany-haired king entered the throne room alongside his lover. "And the Cullen girl, too. To what do we owe this pleasure?" One would have had to be deaf to miss the heavy sarcasm in his voice.

As per usual, Aro completely ignored his brother's displeasure. Without even so much as shrugging, he spoke up.

"The truth, brother."

Shocked sighs went through the crowd of guards at the dramatic statement, and Caius's eyes widened to a maximum. Even Marcus seemed to be caught off guard; within the blink of an eye, he abandoned his old apathy and sat up straight on his throne, waiting impatiently for Aro to continue.

"I found my mate in Bella Cullen."

**~o.O.o~**

"So, to make a long story short, we will be forced to fight an artifical war against the Olympic Coven only to secure your mate's perpetual place along your side," Caius summarized.

"Yes," Aro agreed. "That is exactly what it means."

Marcus sighed. "Carlisle is our friend, Aro. We cannot possibly hurt his family like this."

"I believe we can," Aro replied rather bluntly. "After all, he _has_ broken the law of exposing us to humans. And in the end, what is more important than a mate?"

Bella, suddenly insecure, impulsively felt the need to justify herself. "I am deeply sorry for the trouble I am causing."

"Do not worry yourself," Caius responded. "We have fought far more senseless wars. Besides, it is not _you_ that poses the problem. It is the complicated strategy that will be necessary. Also, I am rather glad to be given an excuse to enjoy myself."

"Aro, we will need to find a fake witness to state that he mistook the little hybrid for an immortal," Marcus noted. "Otherwise, all logic in this will be obliterated and gone."

"Yes, I agree," Caius said. "We have enough prisoners screaming for our mercy in the dungeons, though. Certainly one of them will be willing to fake a testimony for the sake of their life."

"Certainly," Aro thought aloud.

"So, Aro, what exactly was your plan with this battle, if I may ask?" Caius asked. "When shall we attack, who do we kill, how, _et cetera_?"

"We attack as soon as possible," Aro stated, an undeniably strong yet secure quality to his voice.

"We send them a formal letter of complaint about their crimes a little earlier. Allow them to panic. Then we kill. Our story is that whatever criminal has 'seen' Renesmee came to us, stating for her to be one of the forbidden. We took in Bella as a hostage to make sure they would comply and attack us before the actual battle. When they tell us that Renesmee is half human and demand for us to return their family member, we come back to the essential exposure part. They exposed us to Bella after all, which is a crime, and they will pay."

"Let me guess: we gave Bella the choice to be killed instantly or join us?" Caius interrupted.

"Yes," Aro smirked. "Then we go into battle. Bella shields us from their gifts, Alec numbs them, the usual. It will be very easy, too easy almost. We spare the girl and depart. Officially we take her in for research purposes, she is one of a kind after all. Then, months after, Bella and I announce our mate bond. Which, of course, she supposedly formed to me as a hostage."

"Brilliant down to the last detail," Marcus smiled in appreciation. "I have no doubt that this will go down very flawlessly."

"Now that this is settled then," Aro concluded, "I am sure you will not mind Bella and I departing for my quarters?"

"Not at all," Marcus replied. "We will call for you when necessary."

And with that, Aro pulled Bella to the exit.

"Wait," Bella called out. Every head in the room turned towards her.

"Please. We must get Renesmee earlier," she pleaded. "She may be seventeen already, but she is but my little girl. If she witnesses the death of her father as well of all her remaining family, she will be psychologically scarred for life."

"Aren't we all?"

* * *

**Author's Note**: So sorry I only got around to writing this now, three days late! Please don't kill me. I really, really hoped you enjoyed this chapter, though. So please leave me behind a review... :) Can we make it to over 50 reviews before next chapter?

Bye for now. *waves*


	10. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this.

* * *

Chapter 9

It was early morning when the letter finally arrived at the mansion of the Olympic Coven, just as the sky had started to begin its transformation into a deep, dark red otherwise known as dawn. It was delivered personally. The cloaked figure announced its presence with a quiet, demanding knock and sped away without second thought as the letter was taken from his hands.

Neither of the Cullens dared say a word. They all knew what this meant.

"How dare they..." Edward broke the silence. "Bella is my wife. My mate. They had no right to take her..."

Carlisle clearly disagreed. One would have had to be blind to miss the glimmer of disappointment and disagreement in his bright amber eyes. Still, he kept silent and merely shook his head slowly.

"We should open the letter," he said after a few seconds.

Carlisle was aware that each person in the room would have rather have their arms torn off than willingly open the letter, obliterating the very last shred of hope that had remained. He knew they preferred oblivion over this. Still, somehow no-one mustered up the courage to stop him.

He made his way towards the dinner table, upon which Alice had layed the envelope. He was all but determined. In fact, he might have easily been the most frightened of them all. But he knew that in a situation as grave as this, not having his initiative and logic to count on would lead to even more chaos and catastrophe for his loved ones. And, deep inside, he knew that this was all he could offer them. No protection. No safety.

Comfort.

And so he walked on.

It was as if something else aside the paper broke when he finally tore open the envelope after a last, untroubled breath. Instinctually, the vampires flinched as they heard the sound. There was no going back now — the words had been freed, the verdict accepted.

"_If hope has flown away,_" Rosalie whispered, quoting a poem she had recently read, "_In a night, or in a day, in a vision, or in none, is it therefore the less gone?_"

Esme sighed. "_All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream_."

"Maybe," Edward whispered, "Maybe this would be actually soothing if we could actually dream."

Closing his eyes, Carlisle took the letter from its packaging. It was but a piece of paper, but suddenly it felt to him as if it was dragging him down with its weight.

Instantaneously, the Cullens fell back into the calming realms of silence.

Carlisle did not read aloud. He would spare his family the exact wording of their demise.

_To All Members Of The Olympic Coven, by name Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, Jasper and Edward Cullen—_

_The Volturi have received a formal complaint, received by an informant that wishes to stay anonymous, that your Coven is harboring one of the forbidden; a puer immortalis. This accusation was proven correct by the image of the child in the memories of the informant as well as of the statements received from the interrogation of Mrs. Isabella Marie Cullen, who has admitted to the creation of the child after several hours of intense questioning; "Renesmee is my daughter. She is my child."_

_This is a clear violation of paragraph 4 in the Codex Immortalis: "Thou shalt not create immortals under the human age of twelve, as these vampires are not able to think rationally. These vampires shall be known under the name of 'immortal children', and the creation or even harboring of one of them shall lead to the must grave punishment."_

_As this is the fact, Mrs. Isabella Marie Cullen shall stay with us as a proven criminal for us to do with as we deem fit._

_Since it is known that your entire Coven has had a minimum of knowledge of this law breaking, you are hereby declared enemies of the law and will be hunted down to receive your punishment. For a milder punishment, we expect you to hand over the child into our hands._

_Should you decide not to do so by the end of this day, the Coven of the Volturi shall declare war against the Olympic Coven._

_Nemo Supra Leges._

_Signed,_

_Aro, Caius and Marcus Volturi._

* * *

**Author's Note**: I'm back!

Okay, I'm aware this chapter was kind of crappy, but I really wanted to describe the Cullens' reaction to the upcoming war and the letter. So I hope you enjoyed it anyway. Either way, good or bad, please leave a review! ^_^

On another note, thank you so much for all the new notes and favorites between updates! You guys are amazing fans, and I'm very lucky to have you. Thanks so much!


	11. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 10

"What does it say?" Edward interrupted Carlisle's worries, his voice strained, pained.

Carlisle closed his eyes once more. He took in this moment, the one he knew to be the last peaceful, moderately happy one in a long time. Half a second later, his eyes shot open. There was no time, and he was wasting the little amount that they actually possessed.

"War," he summarized gravely, not daring to look at his family. "That's what it says."

Silence.

"What do you mean, _war_?" Esme demanded, the first to break the stillness. "Why?! Even if they think that Renesmee is an immortal, how does that possibly justify a war?"

"Creating an immortal child is one of the worst offenses," Carlisle reminded her. "The Volturi believe we have been hiding it from them, and that doesn't exactly help. Of course Bella acting all maternally when it comes to Renesmee can easily be misinterpreted, too. Especially since Aro has no access to her thoughts."

He finally turned to look at his family. "It makes sense. At least in their logic."

"Still," Rosalie hissed. "Why doesn't anybody that doesn't have a shield go there and show them what's been going on? Surely they wouldn't fight against an innocent coven."

_Rosalie_, Carlisle thought. _Sweet, innocent, naïve Rosalie._

"It said in the letter that they believe that the entire Coven has had _a minimum of knowledge of this law breaking_," he told her. "I've lived with them, Rosalie. I know their ways, their lifestyle, their way of hiding the lethal threat behind a more politely, seemingly not dangerous one. If they say all of us at least knew, what they're really saying is that in case we're innocent, we failed to notify them of the reality of the situation before a conundrum like this could arise."

He gave his copper-headed son a small affirmative nod, sensing his fear and remembering its likely origin.

"And that is a crime since when?" Emmett replied.

"Since Renesmee is one of a kind," Edward answered him, staring Carlisle directly in the eyes. "And in their opinion, it was our duty to inform them. _Notification in case of novelty._ It's one of their laws."

Jasper gasped. "Are you telling me...?"

"That either way, there is no way we are innocent in their eyes? Yes."

Silence.

"You fucking idiot, Edward!" Alice roared. "Why the fucking hell didn't you tell them? For God's sake, you could have just called up their damn secretary! Two minutes, and this bullshit would have been done with!"

"Yeah," Emmett hissed. "What the fuck, man?!"

"Children," Carlisle said, instantly quieting them down. "Please. This will do us no good. If you must know, I made the decision together with Edward. We wanted only the best for Renesmee and wanted to prevent a misunderstanding to occur if they ever did lay eyes upon her." He sighed. "But what does it matter now?"

"Nothing," Rosalie whispered. "Nothing at all. Because we're as good as dead, anyway."

Carlisle gulped. He detested himself for proposing what he was going to propose, but deep inside, he knew it was the only way for them to stay alive.

"Not necessarily," he said.

* * *

"How long has it been now, Aro?" Bella asked anxiously.

She was worrying sick about what possible decision her old Coven would make, garstly afraid of the safety of her own child. Afraid of what would happen if they looked behind her façade. Afraid of what would happen if the Cullens actually chose to accept Renesmee's hypothetical death in return for their own lifes.

No, she told herself. They loved Renesmee. They would never allow her to walk into her certain death.

Or would they?

"It's been twelve hours since Demetri gave them the letter, my dear" the mahogany-haired king answered.

Bella looked away, out of the window and into the Tuscan landscape. This was all too much to bear for her.

"My mate," Aro whispered soothingly into her ear. The caring action took her by surprise, obliterating her worries for the moment. "Your daughter will not be harmed. I promise you this."

And for a moment, she actually got herself to believe it.

Then common sense kicked in.

* * *

"So, in summary," Alice inquired terrifyedly, "Either we hand Renesmee in to the Volturi, which, in the real world, is equal to a death sentence, or we all die?"

"Yes," Carlisle nodded. "That is exactly what I was saying."

"_Do not even think about it_!" Edward yelled. "Renesmee is my only child. She will not be brutally murdered only so that we can take the 'easy way out' of this problem!"

"We all love Renesmee," Jasper said. "But Edward, if it's either just her or all of us-"

"NO!" Edward screamed. "Absolutely not!"

"SHE DIES EITHER WAY," Emmett hissed aggressively. "I see why you're doing this, and it's noble, but really? Your daughter dies one way or another. We don't."

"You bastard!" Edward roared. "You damned, idiotic bastard! May you burn in the deepest pits of he-"

"Edward," Carlisle interrupted him. "Please try to think rationally."

"_Et tu, Brute?_" the vampire in question sneered. "How selfish can you be...?!"

"Daddy...?" a high, childlike girly voice sounded from upstairs. All went silent. "Where's Mommy? I can't sleep. Why are you fighting?"

"Renesmee-" Alice began, but Edward cut her off.

"LEAVE HER IN PEACE!"

"Edward please, we must be hones-"

"I SAID-"

"Daddy," Renesmee called from upstairs, "What's gotting into you? Why are you mean to Aunty Alice?"

"Nessie, come down here" Esme coaxed. "I'll make you some warm milk."

Reluctantly, the little girl complied.

Within the course of a minute she was sat on her usual spot on the living room couch, a comfortably warm glass of white liquid in hand. Her entire family was sitting around her, smiling a little forcedly down at their very own little time bomb.

It was heartbreaking.

"Renesmee," Alice said. "What I wanted to say earlier-"

"ALICE!" Edward interrupted her. "Stop it, you foul, backstabbing pixie!"

"Daddy!" Renesmee complained. "Stop being mean to Aunty Alice. You're scaring me."

Alice shot her a thankful glance.

"Aunty Alice, what did you want to say?"

Little Renesmee was just being polite. She was taking the knowledge of what she had learned on how to behave around others from her Mommy and Daddy and applied it to reality in the best way she could. Little did she now that with this one sentence, she had given her Aunty the permission to change everything.

Alice had been invited to speak. And so she did.

Renesmee listened, at first boredly, but with every second more she was taken by terror and fear. Fright took hold of her. This went by far beyond anything any person should have to decide. Especially any child.

But not once did Renesmee stop her. She neither cried nor screamed. From the outside, everything was normal. She was broken on the inside, but she did not dare show it.

Because she knew that every sign of weakness that she showed, it would be harder for her family. And she loved them. She would do anything for them, those flawless, perfect, loved creatures.

Anything.

"I'll do it," she whispered.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Just as prohibitory measure, a friendly reminder — the Volturi are not killing Renesmee if she goes to Volterra, but of course the Cullens don't know that.

First off, thank you all for your amazing reviews and all the follows and favs! I feel honored, and keep them coming!

Second, I received two unsigned reviews on the last update. I'd like to respond to both of them, but since it's not possible to reply to a guest reviewer, if one you posted an unsigned review on the last chapter and want a reply, please just log in and message me. I briefly thought about posting the answers here in the A/N, but that wouldn't be fair to all other readers.

Please leave a review! I'd very much appreciate it.


	12. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 11

"What are you doing, little bee?" the girl's father curiously inquired, shooting his daughter a loving gaze.

_Out of the night that covers me,_

_Black as the Pit from pole to pole,_

_I thank whatever gods may be_

_For my unconquerable soul._

"Reading," she whispered.

_In the fell clutch of circumstance_

_I have not winced nor cried aloud._

_Under the bludgeonings of chance_

_My head is bloody, but unbowed._

Edward smiled. He saw the words come alive in the young girl's thoughts, blossoming into a unique, original pattern. "And what exactly is it that is worthy of your full attention?"

_Beyond this place of wrath and tears_

_Looms but the Horror of the shade,_

_And yet the menace of the years_

_Finds, and shall find, me unafraid._

"You know," she replied quietly.

_It matters not how strait the gate,_

_How charged with punishments the scroll,_

_I am the master of my fate_

_I am the captain of my soul._

"Yes," the father replied sadly. "Yes, I do."

* * *

Silence took them as the plane the Cullens had hired exclusively for the two of them swiftly made its way through the clouds, farther and farther away from home. The father and his daughter were alone. Edward had insisted on going alone, to make it easier for Renesmee, to be there for her in these infinetely precious numbered moments. And so that, in the case that the kings were going to kill all Cullens entering their lair, it would be only two.

The girl herself, Renesmee, was lying comfortably on a creamy colored leather couch, staring pensively out of the window. Even now she was trying to keep her thoughts from being too morbid, eventhough the situation definetely would have allowed her. And oh, how she would have loved to think that way.

But she didn't. No. She couldn't. For Daddy.

* * *

"Will I see Mommy?" Renesmee finally asked. It was nighttime, and they had been flying for a good five hours now.

Edward closed his eyes, sighing. "I don't know," he said. "And to be honest, darling, I don't know if in this specific situation, that's something to wish for."

Renesmee's answers came promptly.

"Why?"

The copper haired vampire turned around, looking straight into his daughter's doe-like chocolate colored eyes. "Renesmee, I..."

He stopped himself right then. After all, what was he supposed to say? _I don't know how to say this, but there's a pretty good chance that Mommy is either already burnt to ashes, being tortured into madness or being mentally manipulated into hating you right now?_

No. He couldn't say that. Renesmee may have the appearance of a sixteen year-old, but really, she was but his little seven year-old girl.

A seven year-old girl who was about to sacrifice herself for her family.

"You'll see her," he told her, but it came out as nothing but a whisper. "It'll be alright. I promise you. You'll be alright."

Renesmee nodded sadly. "Can I come sit with you, Daddy?"

"Of course."

And so, without the slightest bit of shame, Renesmee walked over and sat down onto the couch directly infront of hers, next to her father, resting her neck on his shoulder alike a little girl.

She closed her eyes in bliss.

"I'm sorry this is happening, Nessie," Edward said, barely audible. His eyes stared off into the void. "You're my little baby girl, and I love you so much. Please, rethink this. We... we won't mind if we have to fight a war to protect you, my little star. Just... _please_..."

"Daddy," she interrupted him. There was determination in her voice. "I love you too, but please don't do this to me. I have to do this." After a few seconds, she added: "My family has given everything to me. And now it's my turn to pay you guys back."

* * *

The plane finally reached Pisa International Airport at dawn, the Tuscan sky a deep, maroon red. Edward debated for a long time wether or not he should wake his sleeping daughter up from her peaceful trance, but eventually decided to go for it. The landscape was extraordinarily beautiful after all, and he would not want for his daughter to miss it.

Especially today.

She was awake immediately.

"Are we there yet?"

Edward nodded. "Aro's sent a car for us."

She sighed. "Let's go then, I guess."

Renesmee was just about to walk out of the plane when her father's strong grip held her back.

"_Renesmee Carlie Cullen_," he said, "We don't have much time, but please listen to me. There is no need for you to do this. We can take on the Volturi if we have to. Just say that you've changed your mind, and we'll fly right back. _Please_."

But the girl only shook her head. "If you could take them on, Daddy, Mommy wouldn't be their hostage. And you wouldn't have allowed me to fly here in the first place."

"Okay," Edward replied. "While that _is_ a good point, and you're probably right, we're your family, and we'd do anything for each other. And that includes going into battle with a devastatingly low chance of survival if that means you're not accepting death with open arms."

For a second, Renesmee was shocked by her father's open approach of the situation.

"If you step out of this plane," Edward pleaded, "I'm going to lose you. And I don't want to have to do that."

Renesmee closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "But you'll live," she said. "And so will Grandma and Grandpa and my Aunties and Uncles. And it'll hurt, but at least I got to save you. Please, Dad. Let me do this for you."

And she stepped out of the plane and onto the runway, where a black limousine was awaiting them.

* * *

"I see," Aro said, grasping the mobile phone closer to his ear. "Thank you for notifying me, Demetri."

"What is it?" Bella demanded anxiously. The twenty-five hours were almost over, and she was more afraid than she would care to admit about the nature of the unexpected call. There was only one thought on her mind:

Renesmee.

She had to be well. She simply had to. The Cullens were her family, after all. They would protect her. Never would they even dream of turning her in.

Only she could not get herself to be fully convinced of this statement.

"That was Demetri," Aro said. "It appears Edward just arrived at Pisa Airport."

There was one question on Bella's mind.

"Is he alone?"

Aro shook his head. "No," he said gravely.

"Renesmee is with him."

Bella fell into her mate's arms, her body shaking with disbelief and terror. Edward, her husband, had brought their child.

To be killed.

She did not know what to believe anymore.

* * *

**Author's Note**: The poem Renesmee reads at the beginning of this chapter is _Invictus_ by William Ernest Henley.

Allow me to take this opportunity to tell you guys how amazing you are! We just hit a hundred followers a few days ago, and the number is gradually growing. I'm stunned by how popular this story is, so thank you all!

Things'll start getting real intense and dramatic next chapter — so stay tuned for more! Since this has such a high number of followers, I'll ask for a total of 70 reviews for the next update. That's nine new reviews, and I think that's doable. So please, leave me some feedback! :)


	13. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 12

The first thing that Renesmee noticed as she entered the Volturi castle for the first time was, undoubtedly, neither the near-all consuming darkness, nor the eminent lack of warmth present within, nor the obvious old age of its elements — the first thing that she noticed was its undisputed beauty.

And so, while her father made his uncomfortable emotions perfectly clear by means of body language and unusual stillness, his daughter could not help but stare.

Edward soon noticed Renesmee's awe. At first, he smiled; after all, who was he to deny his daughter joy? But soon, as he began to understand the irony of the situation, he shot her a warning glare. Still, Renesmee stared on.

Demetri, leading the small group towards the throne room, smiled at the innocent display of happiness.

"It is rather fascinating, isn't it?" he asked, turning around towards Renesmee and shooting Edward a perfect, teasing smirk. "We had countless famous artists add their personal touch to the palace over the centuries."

Renesmee spoke up before Edward could give the Volturi guard a piece of his mind.

"I love this painting," she said, pointing at a painting of two twins. "Very beautiful. And I very much adore the painting style... reminds of Botticelli."

Demetri laughed. "Why, my dear Edward, it would seem you have a very observant child there. It _is_ a Botticelli, in fact. Our own private Botticelli. The elite guards are granted one portrait of their choice every few decades. The twins in the picture are Jane and Alec."

"They must have a very good taste in art, then," Renesmee replied.

"Yes," Demetri nodded, "It runs in the coven."

_What a waste of intellect._

* * *

Merely meters away, an entirely different scene was taking place.

"Sit to my feet," Aro commanded.

"What?"

"I said sit to my feet," the mahogany-haired king repeated. "Do it. Now."

The brunette quickly complied, falling down shortly infront of the king's throne. "Right," she whispered. "I'm supposed to be your hostage. Got it."

Then the doors were thrown open.

* * *

Had Renesmee been impressed by the previous interior of the Volturi lair, she was certainly dying of excitement as she entered the throne room.

She was more than aware that she was supposed to be frightened, or more. After all, she was going to certainly die in this room, and in a very, very short amount of time at that. And it wasn't like she wasn't exactly trying to be frightened, either.

But somehow, from the minute the girl set foot in the castle, she felt... calm.

And so, in lack of anything else to do, she looked around her surroundings once more.

The room was huge and round, both floors and walls completely covered with marble. There was latin writing engraved into the walls; she recognized only one sentence. _Nemo est supra leges_ — nobody is above the laws.

Fascinated, she looked up. There was a dome above her, and with one glance at it, she knew it was Michelangelo.

She looked back down. Infront of her were three expensive seeming black and gold thrones, and three blackly cloaked vampires, likely the kings, occupying them. But that wasn't all. Infront of the middle throne, quite literally at the feet of a mahogany-haired yet strangely appealing crimson-eyed vampire, sat her mother.

Said woman, the lovely Isabella Cullen, surprisingly seemed neither frightened nor upset. Yes, there was a miserable look in her eyes, and yes, her head hung dangerously low in devotion, allowing her long, brown hair to cover her face, but to Renesmee, who liked to think that she knew her mother better than herself, it almost seemed as if she was _too_ miserable.

As if really, she was overjoyed and did her very best to hide it.

"Ah!" the mahogany-haired king, who Edward had said to be named Aro, exclaimed joyously, standing up from his throne to greet the small congregation. "Edward, and Renesmee too! Forgive me, but honestly I had not thought you would take us up on our offer. Either way; welcome to Volterra!"

"And _I_ am still opposed to that offer," Edward snarled. "Our females thought it rational enough, though, and would not refrain from confronting Renesmee with the reality of the situation."

"Who?" Renesmee's mother asked, but it was but a whisper. Aro shot her a warning glance.

_Somehow_, Renesmee thought, _they are trying too hard to make us believe._

"Alice, Rosalie, Esme" Edward said. "Jasper. Emmett, too."

Bella looked as if someone had just stabbed her.

"It's alright," Renesmee tried to calm her. "I'm doing this out of my own free will. Don't worry."

"No, you won't," she demanded. There was worry in her eyes. "Aro, please-"

"Silence."

Nodding her head slowly, Bella complied.

"Well, dear Edward," Caius spoke up, "Our sincerest thanks for bringing the girl to us. A very wise move, if I may say so. Speeds up the process, and saves one life or another that would have surely been lost had you not brought her."

Renesmee was unsure wether she should be frightened or excited.

"What will you do with my daughter?" her father inquired insecurely.

If looks could kill, Renesmee's mother would have been responsible for her husband's death a long time ago.

Caius merely scoffed. "What do you _think_?"

"Caius," Marcus intervened. "Such things are not discussed infront of children."

Renesmee shivered. Frightened. That's what she should be. No matter how acted out it all seemed, ultimately, her life was still on the line.

"No," she said weakly. "I _want_ to know."

"Nessie, please..." Bella pleaded.

"How curious," Aro smiled, sprinting towards her and looking her excitedly into the eyes. In a way, he reminded Renesmee of an overexcited child. "It would seem you are unusual in more ways than one, Ms. Cullen."

"Aro," Caius hissed. "What is this?"

"I've seldom met a being to whom the saying _Ignorance Is Bliss_ did not apply," he replied. "That is what _this_ is."

Caius rolled his eyes dramatically.

"Now, Ms Cullen, do you really wish to partake in a discussion on the method of your execution?"

"Aro!" Bella yelled.

"You will stop this right this instance!" Edward demanded.

Aro but smiled in reply. With a smug smile on his lips, he turned, facing Edward. "I think it best if you were to leave now, Mr Cullen" he said gravely. "We will inform you epistolarily of everything you'll wish to know."

Edward looked at Aro, then at Renesmee, then at his wife, then back to Aro. There was complete silence for a few seconds before he finally spoke up.

_Daddy_, Renesmee thought pleadingly, _don't leave me here!_

But either her Daddy had not heard, or he had no wanted to listen. "I love you, Nessie," he said. Turning towards Aro, he added: "Make it quick."

And without another word, Renesmee was alone.

* * *

Bella was shocked into silence for a few moments. Edward had really done it — he had handed over their daughter willingly into arms he thought would surely crush her, and above it all, he had bolted at the first chance had gotten; leaving his daughter to fend for herself.

And he had not even spoken to her, his wife — he had ignored her, as if she was just another of the numerous Volturi.

Renesmee seemed even more negatively surprised than her. Her innocent face had distorted itself into one of pain, and a single, regretful tear rolled down her pink cheeks. It took all of Bella's willpower not to instantaneously rush to her aid, embracing her and telling her that it would be alright — but she knew that that would have to wait until Edward was out of earshot, and until then, the throne room was bathed in silence.

Edward, the moron, took his time. Another of multiple new reasons to detest him.

_Renesmee_, she thought, _It's gonna be alright._

* * *

Exactly nineteen seconds and seven milliseconds after Edward had sprinted out of the throne room, Aro, king of vampires, broke the silence.

"_That_ was interesting," he commented. "_Very_ interesting."

Within the blink of an eye, his mate shot up from her place beneath his feet, embracing her troubled daughter and drying her tears.

"Shh," she whispered caringly into her ear. "Nobody is going to hurt you, Renesmee."

Renesmee opened her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"It was a charade," Bella said. "You're going to be fine. You'll stay here with me. Aro won't hurt you."

Instantaneously, she understood. "Wait," she replied. "You and Aro...?"

Aro laughed. "What an unusually observant creature you are, Renesmee," he noted. "I am incredibly intruiged."

"Daddy didn't know, did he?" Nessie asked, scared of the answer that secretly, she already knew she would receive.

"He didn't." Bella shook her head.

Renesmee broke into tears. "How... how could he just leave me...?"

"Nessie," her mother tried to soothe her. "Shh. Sometimes people do drastic things to protect themselves. That's just the way it is."

Renesmee cried on.

"My little girl," Bella said. "He doesn't matter anymore. Okay? You'll never see him again. But I'm here for you. Okay? Just you and me. We'll get through this."

Renesmee smiled. "Okay."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I'm not sure if I like it, but here it was anyway.

Thank you for your amazing reviews! I felt incredibly inspired. Can we get to a total of 82 reviews for the next chapter? ^_^

*hands out metaphorical muffins*


	14. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Chapter 13

An all-veiling darkness consumed the night over Forks as Edward Cullen, an exceptionally pained expression on his face, made his way back home. To his family.

He smiled gravely at the word. _Family_. What was that, anyway? "Family are those you love most, even if you won't admit it," his father had once told him in his human years. "Family would chop their head off for you without hesitating. You gotta protect your family, kiddo."

You gotta protect your family, kiddo.

_You gotta protect your family._

PROTECT YOUR FAMILY!

He barely acknowledged the road infront of him as he blindly drove on, lead by his thoughts.

Family. Carlisle. Esme. Rosalie. Emmett. Jasper. Alice. Bella. Renesmee.

_Renesmee_.

He wondered, spontaneously, wether or not they would have already killed his little baby girl.

He still remembered the day she had been born, Renesmee Carlie Cullen. She had almost killed her mother, ripping her way out of her mother's womb. But Bella had smiled anyway. She had loved her daughter. She would have done anything for her; and she did. Not once had she screamed.

_Bella_.

His wife.

Apathetically, he stopped the car. The engine died down within milliseconds, barely putting up a fight. Edward exited the Volvo. He was standing in the Cullen driveway.

"Edward!" he was immediately greeted by his adoptive father. "It is good to have you back."

But Edward saw past Carlisle's happy façade, straight to the glimmer of hatred and anger behind his topaz eyes. He must hate me for what I did, he thought. He must really hate me.

"Father."

"Please," Carlisle said. "Come on in."

And so he did, nodding quietly. Silence embraced them as they walked through the illuminated halls of the Cullen mansion. Edward could smell the people inside. There were less than usual, now that... _they_ were gone. The irratic, thumping sound of Renesmee's hybrid heart was gone — a sound, that, over the years, he had grown as used to as the sound of the animals in the nearby forest. Now, due to its absence he almost felt as if it was not his, but a stranger's home that he was in.

All of a sudden, Edward halted. Something else was out of the normal.

"Son," Carlisle spoke. He seemed almost... sad. "Come with me."

Edward nodded, shutting out his frightening instincts that told him to run. "Yes."

And as they set foot in the living room, Edward detested himself even more than he had ever thought it possible. The sheer feeling of stupidity he felt was indescribable.

"Edward," Alec said, smirking. The bodies of the inanimate Cullens lay around him in a tidy circle. Carlisle's head hung low in shame.

"Long time, no see. I would have thought you had noticed my absence in Volterra, and so I must say, I _am_ surprised that you even showed up."

"Leave," Edward growled. "You and your so-called 'coven' have taken everything from me. Show some empathy and just leave my family and me the fuck alone."

Alec smiled. "I'm sorry," he said. "But this just too easy."

And as Edward's world went black, he thought of the troubled look in Renesmee's eyes as he had left her behind, and he wondered if this incontainable panic, this inexplicable sadness, this numbing certainty, she had felt too.

* * *

Bella had just put her daughter to bed, reading her several bedtime stories in a vain attempt to calm the overly anxious girl, when she saw Aro sitting on the bed of their shared room. She was surprised at seeing her mate; he had been occupied, looking himself in his study with his brothers, ever since her husband had left.

"Aro?" she asked. "Are you finished already?"

But he did not answer.

"Thank you for today," Bella smiled. "I am so grateful for heaving Nessie with me again. Just hearing her heartbeat near me melts my heart. If only you knew-"

"Do you remember when I said that a war had to be fought if we were to be together?" Aro demanded. "So that taking you as my lawfully wedded wife would be legit?"

"Yes," Bella nodded.

Aro sighed. "Do you understand the complete necessity of it?"

There was complete silence for a moment.

"Yes."

Aro took a deep unnecessary breath, then spoke up. "The Cullens will be dead by the next sundown."

* * *

**Author's Note**: I am so, sooo sorry for only updating now! I know I promised you a quick update, but please don't kill me. I kind of lost inspiration for this story, and then I just couldn't find the time...

A large, cordial thank you to all those of you who reviewed and followed/faved the story while I was gone! I really didn't deserve it, but thank you so, soo much. I'm not gonna ask for a certain number of reviews this time. Just... if you want to review, do so. Thank you! :)

Now, to the issue at hand. I've noticed that my inspiration for this story seems to be an on/off thing, and so I wanted to ask if anybody would be interested in becoming my co-author for this story? We'd exchange ideas and you'd have lots of liberties. So if you're interested, just tell me.

Bye now! *hands out cookies*


	15. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Twilight, Stephenie Meyer does. No copyright infringement is intended, and I am making no financial gain from this, either.

* * *

Edward inhaled sharply, taking in every ounce of unnecessary air that he could, as his captor finally freed him from the numb, empty void he had been thrust into. A feeling of odd uncomfort took hold of him as he, for the first time in what seemed like forever, felt as if he was waking from a particularly ghastly nightmare.

Feeling weirdly tired, Edward sat up, opening his eyes. And as he did, he was certain that in truth, he had not awoken from his nightmare at all.

The copper haired vampire was entirely surrounded by his family, who, surprisingly, seemed equally as tired, shocked and out of place as him — which, as it was, would not have been even a quantum of a reason to worry; if it were not for the place that this unusual reunion of sorts was taking place.

The same place that he had fled just a little over a day ago, half dead with guilt.

The throne room.

It was then that it came back to him. He had come home to Forks, only to find an unusually introverted Carlisle and a broadly smirking Alec waiting for him. And then it had all gone black.

And here he was now.

"Cullens!" the artificially merry, seemingly genuine excited voice of Aro exclaimed. "You have awoken."

"Aro," Carlisle stood up, trying to keep his tone of voice polite. "What is the meaning of this?"

_Ignorance is bliss_, the mahogany haired brother's thoughts sped through Edward's mind.

"Perhaps," Caius laughed, "You would prefer not knowing...? Of course, there is a tendency to question things in your coven, as your little brat — Renesmee, was it — has shown. Did she not, Edward? You of all people would know, I believe."

Edward could not believe what was going on. There was simply no way this was actually happening. This had to be nightmare.

_Vampires don't sleep._

No, this wasn't a nightmare. This was worse. This was real. This was an actual living nightmare and no amount of begging, running or screaming would make it stop.

"Yes, Caius, thank you for those unnecessary dramatics," Marcus sighed. "Let us get on with this."

Edward glanced desperately over at his sister. _Please_, he silently screamed at her. _Find a solution. You must._

But Alice only shook her head, thinking, _There is no way out of this_. She closed her eyes in resignation and continued, _Whatever we try, it will end in our deaths, only that some will be more brutal than others. _

They were doomed.

"It is nothing personal, Carlisle," Caius noted. "I greatly enjoyed our discussions on culture and philosophy back in the day."

"Yes," Marcus nodded. "But then again, it is our duty."

Aro sighed, as if caught up in a particularly tragic conundrum. "And deep down, dear friend, you knew that one day, it would be at our hands. I saw it in your thoughts."

There was complete silence for a moment. Then, mere milliseconds later, an agitated hiss was audible.

"You arrogant, filthy, narrow-minded bastards!" Rosalie snarled, sprinting forward and aiming for the thrones. "I will not just let you destroy our lives like this! I have had enough. I will personally—"

"That is quite enough, my dear" Aro interrupted. "You have made your point. Felix."

And the vampiress whose beauty could make an entire girl's self-esteem disappear into vast nothingness never quite made it to the thrones.

* * *

The woman's high-pitched scream of agony echoed throughout the vast halls and corridors of the ancient castle, giving several human employees a formidable excuse to look up from their work for a moment. In all its finality, it was almost impossible to miss. And so, every single one of the castle's inhabitants had heard.

In one moment, one of them had watched her daughter's peaceful slumber. The next, she made a decision that would change everything.

* * *

"No!" the woman's mate called out, falling to the ground in pain. "Rose! My... my sweet Rosalie! NOO!"

"Aro, please" Esme pleaded. "Nobody needed or needs to die today."

Aro scoffed. "Esme," he smiled, "With all due respect, would you really be so naïve as to actually believe that such a cliché sentence would change our minds?"

"Mercy," Carlisle said. "We will serve you, Aro. For as long as you wish. Is that not what you always wanted, Alice and Edward? They're yours, and so are we. Please, do not set my daughter's body on fire."

"Would everybody please cease their pathetic whining?" Caius snarled. "You knew you had this coming. The Volturi give no—"

It was then that it all changed.

Somebody was approaching the throne room, and whoever it was, was doing it as fast as physically possible. Everyone, including the Masters, looked up.

For a second, Aro noticed his control over his thoughts vanish.

"Bella," Edward said aloud, repeating the king's sole thought.

"She... she's alive?" Carlisle whispered, not daring to believe it, his face shining brightly in relief. "Aro, please. Let us talk on this just like we used to."

Aro's face, exactly alike his brothers', had frozen in complete and utter shocked disbelief.

The person outside the door came to a halt, seemingly frozen in place. It did not dare to knock, as if it was afraid to take the last big step of its plan in fear of the consequences.

As a matter of fact, it never knocked.

Isabella Marie Swan Cullen Volturi, the woman that had willingly agreed to the existence and necessity of this procedure beforehand, who had impulsively decided to come to the aid of her daughter's family, was too afraid to unleash the gates of hell upon herself.

But as a matter of fact, she never needed to.

Utilizing the distraction to their advantage, Edward and Alice, having thought this over priorly before executing it, sprinted for the door.

The guards reacted, but they were too slow. Soon they were out of Jane's sight, out of the range of Alec's deadly mist. Demetri and Felix ran after them, but it was obvious they would not succeed in catching them. Meanwhile, the rest of the guard had teamed up and taken hold of the remaining Cullens.

And Isabella Marie Swan Cullen Volturi remained just where she was, just outside the door, frozen in shock at what she had caused.

* * *

**Author's Note**: So here it is, the new chapter you have all been waiting for! I hope I fulfilled your expectations.

Thank you to my new co-author, AnaBookWorm, who helped me tons to get the idea and actually write this chapter. Also, please leave me a review with your opinion :) Thank you in advance.


	16. Chapter 15

**A/N**: I'm back! I'm sorry for not updating TPL for so long, and I hope you forgive me. Please enjoy the update! :)

* * *

Complete and utter silence filled the throne room, the vampires inside of it inanimate in disbelief. Aro closed his eyes in dread for a second, taking in the full dimension of what had happened. Alice and Edward had escaped, having utilized the first opening that had presented itself. And Bella, in a moment of foolishness, had presented them with the opportunity.

Destroying a meticulously thought-out plan along the way.

In this particular moment in time, the notoriously unpredictable mahogany-haired king wanted to scream out aloud in frustration. He wanted to impulsively follow his rage and destroy whatever stood in his way. He wanted to punish Bella for being so foolish, although, as she was his mate, he wanted to calm down and show his care for her at the same time.

He did none of these things. Instead, he opened his eyes, revealing the pitch black irises of anger, and exclaimed, "This is a rather unfortunate situation, I believe."

Caius laughed out loud. "_That_ would be the understatement of the millennium."

There was awkward silence for a second.

"Brothers," Aro continued, fury showing in his eyes, even though he was trying his hardest to hide it, "I suppose we would do well continuing with what we had started before the _distraction_occurred."

He heard his mate shift her weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably outside.

"Aro, please," Carlisle all but whispered.

"Enough." Marcus' voice was monotonous yet loud, and it rang with authority. "Spare yourself the humiliation, Carlisle."

"You'll never get Alice and Edward if you kill us," Esme spoke up. "Aren't they who you truly want? Aren't they-"

"He said _enough_," Caius interrupted. "Let us get on with this."

"I beg of you—"

"Silence."

Carlisle had witnessed enough executions during his visits to Volterra in earlier centuries to ignore the inevitability of his own now. He closed his eyes in realization, as he finally grasped that the Volturi brothers could not and would not be bargained with. They were certain in their decision; in their minds, the Cullens had to be killed, and that was that.

Carlisle sighed, bowing his head in defeat. There was no way out of this. Maybe if he gave up now, they wouldn't make it too painful.

Esme, tearlessly sobbing, looked over at her husband. She immediately understood and, trusting his decision, she followed his example. Their hands intertwined.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I'm sorry," he replied.

Aro stood from his throne, walking towards the couple.

"Carlisle...?" Emmett's voice was trembling.

"Emmett." While his son was desperate, Carlisle was determined. "I..."

The muscular vegetarian understood instantly. So did Jasper. They, too, bowed down before the Volturi kings, Emmett's fingers searching for Rosalie's hands. When he finally found them, he grabbed them without hesitation, wanting to be as close as possible to his half-dead, half-alive mate. In any other situation, he would have fought for her. But now, he knew, it was hopeless.

"At least have the decency to numb us," he croaked out.

"_No_," a quiet, female voice echoed from outside the throne room. "Not like this."

Aro took in a deep, ragged breath.

"B-Bella...?" There was hope in Esme's voice.

"_Yes_," the voice from outside repeated, sounding surer of itself this time. "Yes. Bella."

And, within the blink of an eye, there she was; Bella in all of her glory, standing at the very entrance of the throne room. There was fear and courage evident in her eyes.

"I _do_ understand," she said, staring at Aro. "I really do. And I'm sorry. But even _they_ don't deserve it to be like this."

Caius cursed under his breath. There were tiny cracks appearing on Marcus' throne due to the pressure with which he was gripping it.

"Be merciful," she pleaded.

Caius lost control then.

"_Be merciful?_" he hissed. "_Be merciful?! _Have you lost your mind, woman? These are the people that gladly sent your only child into what they believed to be certain death, only so that they could save themselves!"

Bella did not listen. She merely stared at Aro, watching all sorts of emotions fight for dominance behind his controlled, invincible façade. There was rage, but there was also understanding, there was hate, but there was also love. Contempt fought respect, and acquiescence battled pride. He seemed pained; torn apart.

"Please." There was urgency to her voice.

For a second, Aro's lips turned into a sadistic smile, and Bella thought that her mate's darker side had won. But then a caring softness entered his eyes, and the smile fled his lips. He nodded briefly at her, then put his façade back on.

"Cullens," he spoke up seriously, "I have one last, _merciful_ offer for you."

The vegetarian vampires looked up, hope and dread filling their beings.

Aro smiled as he issued the question.

"Join or die."

Caius smirked.

The Cullens' eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets in horror, and a strange emptiness filled their eyes. It was, even though they had just been given a second chance, as if they were even more aware of their impending doom than before.

"Which will it be?"

Emmett sighed, then closed his eyes and returned to his previous, bowing position.

"If I know one thing," he snarled, "then it is that Rose would rather die than become a Volturi. I —and I say this for my mate, too — choose _die_."

The smile on the blond brother's lips brightened. "With pleasure."

And before any of the remaining Cullens could even cry out, Caius produced a strange golden device from underneath his cloak, and with an odd metallic sound turned it on. Immediately a flawless, glowing fireball shot towards the two Cullens, enveloping them in flames. A single sharp cry was audible; then everything went back to silence.

"Carlisle," Aro spoke up. "Your decision, please."

The vampire answered without a second of hesitation, staring intently at the fire to his right. "Join. Undoubtedly."

"Then," Esme croaked out, her voice still trembling, "so will I."

Aro laughed. "Wonderful! Jasper?"

The empathic vampire gulped, then too answered, "Join."

"Pity," Caius commented.

Esme looked towards the floor in obvious discomfort.

"Enough time wasted," Aro spoke up, obviously aggravated by the circumstances. "Santiago, Afton, take our new additions to their rooms and get them some appropriate clothing. Get the lightest gray you can find for the cloaks, if you will. And make sure they feed. I don't mind if you have to force the blood down their throats and how long it takes, just do it."

The vampires bowed and took off, the remaining members of the Olympic coven in tow.

"Demetri!" Aro ordered, sighing. "The last time I checked, you were the best tracker out there. Go and find Edward and Alice before I prove my own judgment wrong and find someone more suitablefor the position. Jane, Alec, Felix, accompany him. If you don't come back with them, you can all wave the Elite Guard goodbye for good!"

The guards hastily left, nodding their understanding. The doors to the throne room closed with a loud thump-like noise, leaving only Bella and the three leaders behind.

"Now," Aro hissed, "Isabella, would you mind explaining what on Earth you were thinking?!"

* * *

Aro might have been inexplicably angry at Isabella, constantly fighting the urge to destroy or set fire to something, and whenever he looked at her then, it was not love but pure, unfiltered rage he felt for her — the one person that had ever thwarted his plans without even thinking about it, _impulsively_ — but she was still his mate, after all, and nothing, not even death, would ever be able to change that. And so, to spare her the humiliation of having his brothers watching their argument, he carried her to his room bridal style before starting to yell at her.

"We talked about this," he snarled. "I even went through the trouble of informing you about it and asking for your permission before I went through with it! Why would you possibly try to stop it?!"

Had Isabella been human, she would have surely cried. "I... I don't know what to say, Aro," she whispered. "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?!" Aro repeated incredulously. "You're sorry! Well, of course, _that_ sets everything right. A mind reader and a psychic are probably on their way to Romania to team up with our enemies _right_ this instant and if I may add, they are _way_ too intelligent and talented to be found by Demetri, but of course, _you're sorry_, so everything's fine."

Isabella could almost visibly see the sarcasm dripping out of his mouth.

"You knew this would happen, Isabella," he said. "You knew from the very beginning it was either them or me. I didn't make you choose this. Quite the contrary. All I asked was for you to visit me._You_ decided to stay permanently. And I was a good host to you. I brought you your daughter, planned a war between covens only to be able to call you mine, risked my coven's reputation for you. And _this_ is how you pay me back?"

"I'm sorry," Isabella replied. "I'm... I'm so, _so_ sorry."

"Why did you do it, Isabella?" Aro demanded. "Did you have a change of heart? Do you prefer Edward over me after all? By all means, go. You might risk the downfall of vampire civilization if I should descend into a catatonic state like Marcus on your way, but please, follow your fool. I can't resurrect Rosalie and Emmett, but I can send the others with you. Carlisle can be reasoned with, they wouldn't tell."

"Don't say things like that," she answered. "Don't even dare _think_ them."

"Why, Isabella, tell me _why_ then! Please."

There was silence for a second.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?!"

"When I heard Rose's scream," Bella said, "something just felt wrong. Very wrong. And the next thing I knew, I was running. I don't know why. Maybe it was because in some twisted way, she's family. Or maybe because in that moment I felt like without me, she'd never have had to die. The truth is hidden somewhere in between, I think."

"I understand that," Aro nodded, "but I _told_ you! You knew it was going to happen!"

"Aro, I-"

"I just don't understand it!"

"_I_ do," they were interrupted by a high-pitched voice and the sound of its owner's heartbeat.

"The one battle my Momma has always been fighting is the one between what she feels and what she knows," Renesmee smiled knowingly, standing in the doorway in a light pink velvet nightgown. "You can't blame her for it. It's just the way she is. It's how she got herself involved in this whole vampire mess in the first place. At some point, she's just going to have to realize that some people can stay in her heart, but not in her life."

Aro and Isabella stared at Renesmee as if she was an extraterrestrial.

"That being said, I'm not an evil person, but Aunty Alice and Edward kinda deserve what's comingto them. And please, _please_ stop arguing! A, I'm trying to get some sleep, and B, you're a really cute couple. So good night, and please be quiet."

And with that, she was off.

"What an extraordinary child," Aro noted in awe.

"She's got a point," Bella pointed out. "Hell, she's seven and she's already got twice my wit."

Aro chuckled. "That's just the vampire in her genes, my love."

"'My love'?"

"I just can't be angry at you for too long. Renesmee has a point concerning your ratio - emotio conflict, but I am willing to wait it out until you've got it under control."

"I think that's the best of a compromise we're going to reach today."

"Definitely."

An excited shout was audible from the next room. "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!"

And they did. And for a short, complete moment, there were no Cullens and no Edward, no Volturi, no Renesmee and no anxiety. Only Isabella and Aro, Yin and Yang, melting into each other.

* * *

**A/N**: Thanks a bunch to the incredible AnaBookWorm, my incredible co-author without who I would never ever have completed this chapter! You rock.

Please don't forget to leave a review, you'd make my day. :)


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